I’ve had Professor Goldschneider for two semesters now, and he’s easily been my favorite professor at UVA so far. In 1020 specifically, the group writing assignments can feel a bit tedious, but that’s apart of the course structure rather than an issue with his teaching.

The main criticism he receives is that he grades more harshly than some other professors, which is fair to an extent. However, there are more than enough opportunities to earn an A if you put in the effort and use his feedback to improve, and make revisions. As long as you follow the rubric and use the provided templates for the writing assignments, you should do well. He also gives detailed feedback and is approachable during class and office hours if you ever need clarification. The other individual assignments like the reflections, CAD, and MATLAB aren't too bad either, but can feel a bit disconnected from what the rest of the course has to offer.

Overall, Goldschneider is an amazing professor and a very down to earth guy. You can approach him with non-class related issues, and he’ll be understanding and supportive. If you’re worried about getting a bad grade in his class, you really shouldn’t be. Some other professors may grade more leniently, but you'll have all the tools and opportunities you need to succeed.

I know a bunch of people who didn't get a good grade in this class, but it's not that hard. Just don't be paired with a bunch of ROCKS, and you should be fine. If you just compare your writing with the rubric every time, you should get an A or A-. People say he's a hard grader, and I can see that, but he grades very fairly. I also never got below an A, so people who review-bomb are probably mad they just got a bad grade or they were paired with a bunch of rocks (I don't blame them, I'd be mad too). HOWEVER, if you want an easy A with less work put in, I'd definitely recommend other professors who are more lenient. But overall, Goldschneider is pretty chill, just follow the rubric and direction, don't be paired with idiots, and you'll be fine.

I really enjoyed this course. This was my first semester with Goldschneider, and I honestly preferred him over my first semester professor. ENGR 1020 is basically the same across all sections. However, I suggest taking Goldschneider only if you really want to develop the skills the course aims to reinforce. In ENGR 1010 with my previous professor, I felt like I received very little feedback, which I find to be more helpful in my learning than instruction. I think Goldschneider puts a lot of time into giving his students detailed, constructive feedback, especially on their writing. While it can be harsh at times, I felt like it helped me improve my writing and work overall! He's also just a chill dude, and not intimidating in office hours, which I find makes me hesitant to speak to some professors. Ultimately, I suggest taking this class only if you're able to handle criticism and to-the-rubric grading.

This guy hates happiness. He grades this class with the wrath of Soviet Russia, nitpicking every tiny detail in order to lower your grade. I think he just likes the satisfaction of lowering kids grades. This is supposed to be an fun, easy A class, where you work on a project and learn new skills, but Goldschneider turns it into a battle for your life every time he grades anything. Stay away.

I really wanted to like Professor Goldschneider's class, however, the way he runs his class and the lack of consistency on his end make it hard to recommend. His class, like every other ENGR 1020 class, is built around engineering a solution for an external client. You work on this project in groups of 4-5 students. This can be either physical, software, or systems based. My biggest gripe is how his perceived understanding and relatability that he tries to emulate during class does NOT translate to any forgiveness in grading if something comes up or if you get stuck with a bad team (he is also a needlessly harsh grader in general). Often times what he states in class, describes in assignment descriptions, and states in the rubric can be COMPLETELY different from one another, and there is no way to be 100% sure of what he is expecting. His due dates for some of the longer assignments are also notably earlier than any other sections, even if they are published to students at the same time.

Its not so much that he is an awful professor, but there is absolutely no reason to put yourself through his class where there are other professor that also teach this class that make it much much easier of a time. He is a very nice person, but the nature of his class takes is not enjoyable. For these reasons I cannot recommend taking this class with Goldschneider.

[For people wanting to work on a software project]:
Goldschneider's background is basically in systems engineering. When taking this class (and ENGR 1010) you can tell is mostly centered around designing physical projects. Considering the nature of his class and his educational background Goldschneider has lots of experience working with systems and physical project materials. For whatever reason, I do not believe he has a good understanding of how most larger software projects work. When I tried describing my teams work breakdown structure based on smaller software functionality (frontend, backend, API related tasks) he didn't really understand. He also wanted us to document all of our work in a digital notebook which does not work well at all for large software projects (This is what github and READMEs are for). He wanted documentation in the form of his notebook, no exceptions. If you want to work on a software project in ENGR 1020, do not take his class.

Super great instructor. Very quirky, but understanding about the semester long project. Ex if your materials don't come in or even if your final product doesn't work, as long as you show effort throughout the semester, you'll end with a good grade. There's a few individual assignments (CAD, MATLAB, career building), but other than that, you and your group basically determine your own workload. Goldschneider is amazing when it comes down to being very clear on what he expects for each section of the project. He also gives really good and clear feedback.

This man is my goat. He is a very fair and funny professor. He is also very understanding of group situations, and as long as you do your work *ON TIME*, you'll be perfectly fine in this class. He can grade harshly, but he includes comments everywhere and it is all constructive.

Takes his class too seriously. Its engr foundations 2 not ODE. It should not be this intensive. It should not take over 5hrs of HW a week...