His lectures are all conceptual and have nothing to do with calculations. After asking friends, I heard a majority of his questions are mathematical-based. In addition to his teaching, he also does not post any resources. His notes are from a student, not himself. And he does not provide any videos of himself explaining those mathematical problems.
This man is a king. No exams or final this quarter just quizzes and homework. Although online, lectures are as interesting as they are helpful. Geller is not only an extremely capable lecturer, but is overall just a nice, cool guy who cares about his students' success. I could not recommend him more, the best professor I've had at UCSB.
Nobody enjoyed this class at all. Long and boring lectures that are extremely off-topic. Barely any material is actually covered, only broad and off-topic discussions. Lots of "rambling" in a sense. Class was mostly empty. The final was extremely difficult and the average was very low compared to him praising 6C and saying how easy it was vs 6A & B
Geller is genuinely a horrible professor. Although you can tell he knows a lot about the topics and wants the students to be interested, his lectures are horrible. All he talks about is conceptual ideas when the exams were all math problems. Basically had to teach myself everything for the midterm and final. Do not take this class with him.
He's great, class was terrible.
Took his class for Physics 6A &C. Such a empathetic professor and very understanding of his students especially in this pandemic. He drops your lowest quiz/ hw & curves hw. I like how the quizzes arent worth majority of your grade. I used to dislike physics but Geller def made me like it a lot more.
Let me just say how extremely happy I took Geller after Freund. I had no choice since Freund didn't teach 6B in the Winter. &thank god he didn't, I love Geller! I admired Freund and heard how Geller can be "HARD". Not true! He is passionate and easy to listen too so you don't zone out too often in class. An amazing professor!
Geller is a really good lecturer, but you HAVE to go to lecture because he doesn't use slides. His classes were very conceptual and demo heavy (especially compared to Freund) so it can be tough to study with limited practice problems, but if you do sapling and go to lecture you should be fine. I thought his lectures were always really interesting
I got straight A's in Physics 6A and 6B, then ended up with a B- in Geller's physics 6C class. He's not a terrible lecturer, but doesn't do example problems in class, just explains concepts. Definitely wouldn't recommend for 6C if you have a choice. Prepare to spend time in the PSR trying to figure out everything he doesn't explain.
Geller's lectures are absolutely terrible, but you kinda feel the need to go anyway. Out of an entire quarter (TR lectures), he had three day's worth of iClicker. Doesn't teach, just talks about applications and astronomy. Also, he sounds like Bentley from the Sly games. Big oof.
Geller is an average professor. He is really passionate about physics which is great, but his lectures are very conceptual, and he doesn't cover much of the 'practical' stuff. The final only covered the concepts that he discussed in class, so just do problems to familiarize yourself with the equations and you'll be fine.
Lecture is mostly conceptual stuff that wont be test material, but still go for the equations and problems that he wants you to know. Practice hard problems and go to CLAS. Read the book. No curve or very little curve.
The test is much different from his class material.
I dislike physics but Geller was such a good teacher. He doesn't try to trick you. I strongly recommend doing book problems because they really help you prepare for the midterm and final.
After taking Freund for 6C, I found Geller's class to be more challenging - I had to put more effort into studying and actually knowing the material, rather than memorizing equations. However, Geller's passion for physics and science in general made the class interesting, and I didn't mind going to lecture. Don't forget to bring your i-clicker!
Geller was alright but kinda boring sometimes. He really cares about his students.
Best physics teacher I've ever had. He doesn't do flipped classroom like other teachers which is helpful and takes tons of questions and does a ton of examples to make sure you understand. He is really funny. Tests are very fair compared to other teachers-doesn't trick you and tells you how many questions of what topic will be on there. One midterm
Geller is the best professor to take for the Physics 6 series. I've had Dr. B and Lubin before, yet Geller had the most clear-cut expectations for success on tests out of all those professors. Study Sapling, go to CLAS, and briefly go over the lecture notes for any practice problems he does during class. If you put in the work, you will be okay.
Geller. Hmm. What should I say besides that he's an amazing human being? I got a 64% on my first midterm. Worked hard, got 100% on the final and barely met the range for a B+. He BOOSTED me to an A! Geller believes in hard work, and he rewards his students accordingly. Take over any other physics professor!
Geller's a downright awful lecturer, but at least he shows enthusiasm for it. He focuses too much on applications and not enough on the theoretical aspects of physics. That being said, do the book problems and use lecture as a test to make sure you're on track, not very useful otherwise. Could've had potential, but interesting topics nonetheless
Just as Professor Geller said from day one, this class had a good ratio of easy and interesting. Super cool class, great professor! Highly recommend.
Geller's like your cool traditional Isla Vista teacher from the 90's. He teaches you the basic 6C concepts using compelling demos that will stimulate the Gaucho mind (e.g. the hallucinogenic appearance of soap) albeit still using overhead projectors. He's funny, his teaching emanates passion in his teaching, but watch out, his tests can get you!
He is an interested and goo-natured professor. He is supportive of all students and he will reassure students that are struggling. I really appreciated that because I am not the best at physics. He had iClicker a few times and his tests were very similar to the Sapling assignments.
Professor Geller is awesome. The man is a genius and is a fantastic instructor. He is very reasonable when it comes to expectations of students, but he also loves to push them.