Great lecturer and caring person. I was nervous going into the course as this was my first physics course ever, but I thoroughly enjoyed the class and was very successful. My piece of advice is to keep up with homework and take the discussion seriously -- easiest way to be ready for exams.

He is extremely passionate about physics and a great lecturer. Physics is just doesn't makes sense sometimes. Be aware of asking for regrades because a TA took off a point after asking for a regrade.

Koutroulakis is really an amazing professor. He makes PHSY 1 a piece of cake. The exams are exactly identical to practice problems, and you don't need to study. You don't need a curve to get an A because the A is 87.5. Great professor, highly recommend.

The best lecturer I have had at UCSB so far. He is clearly very passionate about physics and teaching in general. The lectures were very clear, and the little experiments made it very engaging. The discussions really cemented the content covered in lecture. Would love to take a physics class with him again.

Very good at explaining course content. Clear grading criteria and generous grading scale. Cool demonstrations in class. Overall, a great professor to have.

Professor Popescu is a great lecturer who really cares about her students' success. Physics 2 can be a tricky class, but the homework reflects the lectures and she is always willing to answer questions about the content. I would recommend her for any physics class at UCSB.

Physics tests were hard, especially if you never took physics in high school. There is a preset grading scale, no curves at all. Homework was long to do as well

Well, I don't think Paula is the best teacher - she may not present the material most clearly. However, she did her best to help you succeed. She gave useful hw and fair exams. She did a lot of curving, gave a lot of extra credit, and even gave a big ec assignment. I took her from Phys 2 to Phys 4 and always felt good.

Professor Koutroulakis requires lecture attendance, but the lectures are worth attending. He's great at explaining concepts and has a lot of fun demonstrations. He was also very easy to reach on Nectir, the messaging app we used for the class. The midterms and final were fair and there is a generous curve.

Made all her tests online including the final (no midterm). Weekly tests were 6-question quizzes while the final had about 10 questions, part mc part frq and did not need the entire 3 hours.17 question Pearson homework every week that made up a big part of the grade, overall pretty easy professor with easy-to-understand lectures.

Great lectures and explanations. Really made me enjoy physics. Homework is composed of book problems and homework software (good for the most part and had hints to help with difficult problems). Practice midterms were great representations of what the real thing would look like. Accessible online and great for helping you understand problems.

A great professor that is passionate about his teaching. His lectures are amazing and insightful. You will need homework and extra textbook practice to truly get the most and get a good grade from the class.

Given the large amount of material that he had to cover, I think that doctor Koutroulakis did a good job with pacing the class although some more time could have been dedicated towards rotation. There was a good mix of practice examples and conceptual explanations during lecture and the homework did a good job preparing me for the tests.

Let me preface this by saying that I have never taken physics before (not even normal physics at high school). Georgios is a cool guy and i loved his grading scale. Even though these college physics courses are geared towards engineers who are expected to have taken physics (unlike me lol) it will be a ton of work and a you just have to keep going.

Very nice professor, very difficult topics (imo). This class seems better suited for people with good prior experience with physics, like AP physics. I struggled a lot, and of course didn't get a passing grade. In order to pass without experience, be ready to spend many hours weekly studying. Generous grading scale, but still wasn't enough for me.

Unless you’ve taken AP Physics and know how to go about every type of physics question, you’re going to have a tough time like myself. Not friendly to the newer people of physics and the exams are more friendly to the people who really understand this subject. Nice guy but 70% of your grade for the exams on free response is kind of messed up…

I do not suggest you take this course freshman year. I tried my best to do everything I could after failing my first midterm and was just able to obtain a C. The homework and other problems are way easier than exams themselves. I think this class is mainly for those who really understand physics and took AP physics with a score of 0-2 on the exam.

Seriously the best professor Ive had yet! She is very kind and genuinely wants you to learn. Her lectures are very loosely structured, but reading the textbook beforehand helps. Weekly homework is substantial, but doable. Easy weekly quizzes, no midterms. Discussion sections were very helpful! Overall, a well-balanced class.

Had a great quarter with Paula! Her lectures are very clear and she gave fair quizzes and final. The section attendance was not enforced and each time less people went to the section than the last time. Extra credit was available for the final - make your study guide!

Good lecturer but the final was the only test so beware!

One of those professors who is super nice but not a great teacher. Lectures were a weird mix of easy conceptual stuff and complicated, poorly explained derivations. I went into her class with a passion for physics and left with that passion diminished. Her class is great if you just want to pass, bad if you want to enjoy the learning process.

Took her over the summer and really enjoyed her class! No wishy-washiness, very direct about what the material on the exam is. Assigns a very reasonable amount of work. Would 100% take her again.

Course was organized extremely clearly. No midterm. HW (MP) was big part of grade, yet quizzes and final were hardly like it. Lectures were usually short (sometimes too short). Final was extremely fair and shorter than other phys finals. Weekly quizzes were conceptual and not too hard. Def going to take her again if I have the chance.

Professor Popescu put a lot of effort into editing recorded lectures, her videos were straightforward and the examples were helpful which I really appreciated. Sometimes it seemed like a few videos got cut short for some reason though. There are weekly quizzes, homework assignments and a final. The workload is very manageable.