PHYSICS 6C
Physics for Life Sciences Majors: Light, Fluids, Thermodynamics, Modern Physics
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Units:
4 of 4
Most Helpful Review
regretfully, prof. slaus is one of those whose lot in life seems to be to take potentially fascinating topics and turn them into tasteless, dry, boring, sorry bits of ideas. he seems like a nice guy, just not a very charismatic teacher (incidentally, it seems like very few physics profs are). and his exams are weird - some of us went from an A+ on the first midterm to a D+ on the second. with more studying before the second (not lying).
regretfully, prof. slaus is one of those whose lot in life seems to be to take potentially fascinating topics and turn them into tasteless, dry, boring, sorry bits of ideas. he seems like a nice guy, just not a very charismatic teacher (incidentally, it seems like very few physics profs are). and his exams are weird - some of us went from an A+ on the first midterm to a D+ on the second. with more studying before the second (not lying).
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Most Helpful Review
I only took Villasante instead of Buchanan because of scheduling conflicts (i.e. 2 finals on the same day), and I'm wondering whether or not the torture would have been less if I had just sucked it up and gone for the 2 finals on the same day... I mean, the guy isn't a bad person in any way. He's unbelievably passionate (no joke!) about what he has to teach, but his demeanor by which he goes about it is rather distasteful to a student. Any professor that is so unapproachable (for fear of being insulted and screamed at) does not deserve to stand up in front of a group of student no matter how qualified he is. Granted, his lectures are not too bad, he covers the material (only if he decides it is important) decently, although his tests do not reflect the hw or the lectures in the least. He is just mean! On top of that, the class covers stuff that is not meant to be emphasized in 6C! We completely skipped over Gauss's Law, for example, and it's supposed to be the crux of the course. And we are covering a bunch of BS that really trivial if you consider how in-depth the other class is covering what we're going through. We barely touch what should be learned and dive into what doesn't matter. A real interesting case if you ask me. One thing he is VERY good at is responding to e-mail. I can e-mail him a question on the homework (which he writes himself, so it's impossible to find help/comparison), I can sit and count to 100 and he would have a reply in my mailbox. It's amazing! The guy must sit at the computer and wait for students to e-mail him about his impossible homework problems! I call that a false sense of popularity. :) After saying all this, no, I am not doing poorly in the class. I actually have an A, but I find that this class has been an unequivocal waste of my time thus far and I can't wait for it to be over! DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT!! Unless, of course, you're a glutton for punishment.
I only took Villasante instead of Buchanan because of scheduling conflicts (i.e. 2 finals on the same day), and I'm wondering whether or not the torture would have been less if I had just sucked it up and gone for the 2 finals on the same day... I mean, the guy isn't a bad person in any way. He's unbelievably passionate (no joke!) about what he has to teach, but his demeanor by which he goes about it is rather distasteful to a student. Any professor that is so unapproachable (for fear of being insulted and screamed at) does not deserve to stand up in front of a group of student no matter how qualified he is. Granted, his lectures are not too bad, he covers the material (only if he decides it is important) decently, although his tests do not reflect the hw or the lectures in the least. He is just mean! On top of that, the class covers stuff that is not meant to be emphasized in 6C! We completely skipped over Gauss's Law, for example, and it's supposed to be the crux of the course. And we are covering a bunch of BS that really trivial if you consider how in-depth the other class is covering what we're going through. We barely touch what should be learned and dive into what doesn't matter. A real interesting case if you ask me. One thing he is VERY good at is responding to e-mail. I can e-mail him a question on the homework (which he writes himself, so it's impossible to find help/comparison), I can sit and count to 100 and he would have a reply in my mailbox. It's amazing! The guy must sit at the computer and wait for students to e-mail him about his impossible homework problems! I call that a false sense of popularity. :) After saying all this, no, I am not doing poorly in the class. I actually have an A, but I find that this class has been an unequivocal waste of my time thus far and I can't wait for it to be over! DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT!! Unless, of course, you're a glutton for punishment.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Wright is a really good guy, like the previous poster wrote, he is in no way out to get you. That being said, if you don't do the work, you will struggle. The first midterm was fairly straightforward - if you had done the homework it was not difficult to do well. The second midterm was not impossible, but required a lot more thinking and "applying what we'd learned".. basically just doing the homework was not enough to do well on it, and the class average showed this (I think it was around a 55 or so). The final was quite long, but was pretty fair. The problems on it were similar to the midterms, with a few difficult sections thrown in. If you had done the homework and understood most of it (not just plugging and chugging), it was alright. The final curve was very nice, Wright really does his best to treat his students well and will give you the benefit of the doubt, even offering to drop your lower midterm. A few tips: -DO THE HOMEWORK! There really isn't too much of it, so try each problem. Also, make sure to look at the keys he later posts, they aren't just the book solutions and he sort of explains each step in them. -Going to class isn't always essential, but he's a good lecturer with a lot of energy. He also tends to do problems very similar to what will appear on the tests on the board. -Also, I highly suggest learning any new material you have recently covered just before a test. We didn't have any carnot engines, and only a fairly simple thermodynamics P/V chart on the second midterm, but these were a BIG part of the final.
Professor Wright is a really good guy, like the previous poster wrote, he is in no way out to get you. That being said, if you don't do the work, you will struggle. The first midterm was fairly straightforward - if you had done the homework it was not difficult to do well. The second midterm was not impossible, but required a lot more thinking and "applying what we'd learned".. basically just doing the homework was not enough to do well on it, and the class average showed this (I think it was around a 55 or so). The final was quite long, but was pretty fair. The problems on it were similar to the midterms, with a few difficult sections thrown in. If you had done the homework and understood most of it (not just plugging and chugging), it was alright. The final curve was very nice, Wright really does his best to treat his students well and will give you the benefit of the doubt, even offering to drop your lower midterm. A few tips: -DO THE HOMEWORK! There really isn't too much of it, so try each problem. Also, make sure to look at the keys he later posts, they aren't just the book solutions and he sort of explains each step in them. -Going to class isn't always essential, but he's a good lecturer with a lot of energy. He also tends to do problems very similar to what will appear on the tests on the board. -Also, I highly suggest learning any new material you have recently covered just before a test. We didn't have any carnot engines, and only a fairly simple thermodynamics P/V chart on the second midterm, but these were a BIG part of the final.
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