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This is the worst teacher/class I have ever had. The content is dry, the lectures are boring, and expectations are nonexistent. I have never felt so bad about wasting my time or money on a course. He is also very rude to students and will openly criticize them. He nearly made a group of exchange students cry over their project","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2494528","quality_rating":1,"difficulty_rating":2},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 15:56:20.583672+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMyOTg3NTA5","source_instructor_id":"rmp:2494528","instructor_name":"Zhi Cao","course_label":"MHR423","course_id":"MHR 423","course_uid":"course_603c6927e30b4643e964b920","review_date":"2020-03-23 19:27:03 +0000 UTC","comment":"DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH ZHI. Not only will he make quizzes and exams impossible, he doesn't know what he's talking about half the time. Our class had to call him out on his grading of exams since he was asking for things that were not clear/stated. Lectures are rough and honestly pointless but attendance is mandatory. Overall, horrible class.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2494528","quality_rating":1,"difficulty_rating":4},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 15:56:20.583672+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMyNzkxNDI3","source_instructor_id":"rmp:2494528","instructor_name":"Zhi Cao","course_label":"MHR423","course_id":"MHR 423","course_uid":"course_603c6927e30b4643e964b920","review_date":"2020-01-04 06:30:24 +0000 UTC","comment":"One of the strangest classes I have ever taken. There was never any expectations as far as readings, cases, projects, etc. Basically just came and sat through a lecture on random stuff. Very repetitive, nobody paid attention and just sat on phones/computers. Zhi could be very harsh and talk rudely to students, making them feel unwelcome in class.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2494528","quality_rating":1,"difficulty_rating":1},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 15:56:20.583672+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMyNTEyMzcz","source_instructor_id":"rmp:2494528","instructor_name":"Zhi Cao","course_label":"MHR423","course_id":"MHR 423","course_uid":"course_603c6927e30b4643e964b920","review_date":"2019-12-03 19:36:37 +0000 UTC","comment":"Absolutely the worst professor I have had at UW-Madison. He is rude, degrading and unclear on everything to do with the course. The hardest power lecture I have ever had to sit through. He gives little explantation on his assignments and presentations.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2494528","quality_rating":1,"difficulty_rating":3},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 15:56:20.583672+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMyNTEyMzAy","source_instructor_id":"rmp:2494528","instructor_name":"Zhi Cao","course_label":"MHR423","course_id":"MHR 423","course_uid":"course_603c6927e30b4643e964b920","review_date":"2019-12-03 19:32:41 +0000 UTC","comment":"Lectures were very dry and hard to follow, and Zhi was very condescending towards our class. Lots of in class activities which pitted the students against each other and created unnecessary tension, and didn't relate to the content at all.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2494528","quality_rating":1,"difficulty_rating":2},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 15:56:20.583672+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMxODg3OTU2","source_instructor_id":"rmp:2494528","instructor_name":"Zhi Cao","course_label":"MHR300","course_id":"MHR 300","course_uid":"course_c4daa7a544a44fc041c25e3f","review_date":"2019-05-16 03:48:29 +0000 UTC","comment":"Really great guy, super nice, can be a little hard to follow (more to do with having class at 8 am), cares about success if you care, will help you a lot on the semester project if you look for it, grading  semester project, simple weekly discussion posts, and two exams, exams are situational, pure memorization from the book and a little lecture","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/2494528","quality_rating":4,"difficulty_rating":5}],"total":6,"page":1,"courses":[{"course_uid":"course_c4daa7a544a44fc041c25e3f","course_id":"MHR 300"},{"course_uid":"course_603c6927e30b4643e964b920","course_id":"MHR 423"}],"matched":true},"socialImage":false}}