Professor
Benjamin Williams
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Most Helpful Review
Ben Williams is a great guy; I took EE 2 with him this quarter because he was teaching it (I took 101 with him last quarter). I love how he goes slowly during lecture so you have some time to process what he is teaching. He always answers your questions, and he knows what he's talking about. He always prepares lectures and posts them online afterwards.
Ben Williams is a great guy; I took EE 2 with him this quarter because he was teaching it (I took 101 with him last quarter). I love how he goes slowly during lecture so you have some time to process what he is teaching. He always answers your questions, and he knows what he's talking about. He always prepares lectures and posts them online afterwards.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Prof Williams is a pretty good lecturer and explains concepts really well for an intro class. Instead of a midterm and final, we had ~weekly homework (7 total, dropping lowest score), 4 quizzes (every 2 weeks) and a final paper. The quizzes were hard, but his overall grading is pretty lenient. I got a 50% on one of my quizzes when the average was a 90 and still ended up with an A-. The final paper had you write 2 pages about any topic relating to the class. Would recommend
Winter 2021 - Prof Williams is a pretty good lecturer and explains concepts really well for an intro class. Instead of a midterm and final, we had ~weekly homework (7 total, dropping lowest score), 4 quizzes (every 2 weeks) and a final paper. The quizzes were hard, but his overall grading is pretty lenient. I got a 50% on one of my quizzes when the average was a 90 and still ended up with an A-. The final paper had you write 2 pages about any topic relating to the class. Would recommend
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Most Helpful Review
Prof. Williams' EE101 is challenging but rewarding. His lectures are well prepared and he (naturally) speaks perfect English. There are weekly homework assignments that reflect the material in lecture nicely. His tests and quiz are probably easier than the homework assignments. Prof. Williams is the type who doesn't hand out answers, and would prefer to walk you through a problem instead. I really have no complaints for this class whatsoever.
Prof. Williams' EE101 is challenging but rewarding. His lectures are well prepared and he (naturally) speaks perfect English. There are weekly homework assignments that reflect the material in lecture nicely. His tests and quiz are probably easier than the homework assignments. Prof. Williams is the type who doesn't hand out answers, and would prefer to walk you through a problem instead. I really have no complaints for this class whatsoever.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - Professor Williams is a really good professor for this course. Personally, I had a miserable workload for this quarter, so I wasn't able to pay as much attention to the course as I had hoped, because the material is actually interesting to me (don't take this course if you really aren't interested in semiconductor physics and E&M principles because you will hate it). The final project (presentation and paper) was pretty strict in terms of requirements (time limit, formatting, etc.), but the grading isn't particularly harsh as long as you don't miss large sections of your chosen topic. The lectures are a little bit dry, which is not the worst, but the textbook is atrocious. I managed to find a pdf and none of the equations are properly written out (slashes for division, Greek variables missing in some eqns, and missing parentheses). Overall, if you find solar cells and semiconductor physics interesting, you'll have a decent time here. Otherwise, don't bother because the photonics series really isn't worth it for anyone who isn't very into it
Spring 2021 - Professor Williams is a really good professor for this course. Personally, I had a miserable workload for this quarter, so I wasn't able to pay as much attention to the course as I had hoped, because the material is actually interesting to me (don't take this course if you really aren't interested in semiconductor physics and E&M principles because you will hate it). The final project (presentation and paper) was pretty strict in terms of requirements (time limit, formatting, etc.), but the grading isn't particularly harsh as long as you don't miss large sections of your chosen topic. The lectures are a little bit dry, which is not the worst, but the textbook is atrocious. I managed to find a pdf and none of the equations are properly written out (slashes for division, Greek variables missing in some eqns, and missing parentheses). Overall, if you find solar cells and semiconductor physics interesting, you'll have a decent time here. Otherwise, don't bother because the photonics series really isn't worth it for anyone who isn't very into it
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Professor Williams is a phenomenal guy. He puts a lot of efforts in explaining the concepts and try his best to make everyone understood the lecture. He often uses interactive methods to explain the dauntingly difficult topics. The class had 5 HW assignment (somewhat difficult but late submission was allowed), 3 quizzes (Easy), and a review paper (on any topic related to QM) & short presentation. I couldn't score well in the class due to personal reasons, but he graded leniently. Overall, the class was informative and engaging even to somebody like me who had no prior experience in QM. I would highly recommend this class.
Fall 2021 - Professor Williams is a phenomenal guy. He puts a lot of efforts in explaining the concepts and try his best to make everyone understood the lecture. He often uses interactive methods to explain the dauntingly difficult topics. The class had 5 HW assignment (somewhat difficult but late submission was allowed), 3 quizzes (Easy), and a review paper (on any topic related to QM) & short presentation. I couldn't score well in the class due to personal reasons, but he graded leniently. Overall, the class was informative and engaging even to somebody like me who had no prior experience in QM. I would highly recommend this class.
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