The best aspects of this course included the class curve, as wel as the highly entertaining and engaging professor who was effectively able to teach the course content with accompanying demonstrations. The worst aspects of the course included the difficult exams, complicated homework assignments, and unhelpful section meetings with the teaching assistant. Students felt like there was disconnect between the lectures, homework, and exams, in regards to their level of difficulty. The course would improve if the example problems and homework assignments were closer to the level of difficulty in the exams. Prospective students should be sure to always attend lectures, as the in-class clicker questions make up a portion of their grade. While some previous background in physics is helpful, those who read their textbooks, practice the problems, and take advantage of the extra help sessions are sure to be successful in this course.

Students found that the best aspects of this course included the professor and his interactive lectures and demonstrations, as they found him to be knowledgeable and interesting. Students also liked the prelectures and the ready availability of materials online and the relatively light workload. Students also disliked the textbook, SmartPhysics, which they found lacked substantial explanation of core concepts. Suggestions for improvement included adding additional content to the lectures to make them more interesting and useful to attend. Students also believed that the course could use more math problems and applied formulaic equations to show comprehension rather than memorization of the materials. Prospective students should have background knowledge in Physics as many of the concepts are not reviewed in class, and should be prepared to complete a fair amount of memorization.

Students broadly praised this course’s instructor who put on live demonstrations and experiments in order to help students grasp concepts. Perceived issues with the course included a broad belief that the course’s homework was significantly harder than the information covered in lectures and what students were tested on for exams. Suggestions for improvement varied. Multiple students requested that the instructor spend more time going over some of the more challenging concepts in class and perhaps offer students more example problems similar to what they should expect on the exam. Prospective students should know that students found the course chal enging but manageable and that it was helpful to have a background in calculus or physics.

The best aspects of this course included the sections that al owed students to work with peers, the instructor’s emphasis on learning the concepts, the instructor’s engaging lecturing style, and the opportunity to watch pre-lectures. Students also appreciated the instructor’s demonstrations that made the material relevant and cohesive with the lecture and textbook content. Some students felt the textbook wasn’t adequate enough. Students also felt the midterm exams were too chal enging compared to the homework and in-class problems. Suggestions included replacing the textbook, providing students with more access to practice problems, and incorporating more explanations into the lecture slides, as opposed to simply displaying computational information. Prospective students should know that this course offers a lot of opportunities to practice the concepts, but it’s also extremely reading and formula-intensive.

The best aspects of this course included the instructor’s relevant demonstrations, the videos provided on Smart Physics that were both helpful and easy to understand, and the manner in which the instructor promoted class interaction by incorporating clicker questions. Some students felt that dually submitting homework and answers to questions on Smart Physics was excessive. One student felt that there was too much type disparity in the physics problems – numerical homework problems, practical in-class problems, and conceptual exam problems – and this made content application difficult. Suggestions included providing more explanations or derivations in class, exposing students to practice problems of all types (conceptual, practical, and quantitative) to improve comprehensive understanding of the 224 material, and omitting/limiting the amount of clicker questions. Prospective students should be thorough when viewing pre-lectures, attend all sections, and be prepared for intense reading and difficult exams.

This course was highlighted by interesting hands-on demonstrations in class and a knowledgeable and engaging professor. Students thought overal that the instructor had their best interests at heart and genuinely wanted them to succeed and enjoy the course. Despite interesting demonstrations, the instructor was often difficult to hear or understand in lectures. Many students found the TA unhelpful and found they were teaching themselves the material rather than being taught. Better lecture notes, more explanation of problems reviewed in class, and fewer clicker questions were suggested improvements to the class. Prospective students should know that the demonstrations are interesting, but this is a difficult course that you wil just have to get through.

The best part about this class was the engaging and informative in-class demonstrations. Students appreciated the professor’s efforts to account for the diverse backgrounds of the students, and accessibility to students seeking help. Some students struggled to use WileyX for their homework, and others found that the homework and class assignments did not adequately prepare them for exams. Suggestions for improvement included more guidance and examples for approaching and solving physics problems, as well as more engaging and informative lectures. Prospective students should know that it’s beneficial to have taken Physics previously.