Elizabeth Gwinn

43 reviews
Lots of homework Get ready to read Participation matters Clear grading criteria Would take again Test heavy
Past quarters

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PHYS115B . 5 Years Ago

Professor Gwinn was highly inaccessible outside class, never answered emails, short office hours. Her teaching style is based more on the basics rather than proofs or details. She was fine, but I wished she communicated more with her students

3 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 6 Years Ago

Her lectures make you more confused that you would've been had you not gone to class, but sadly the iClicker points are important. She's been really nice about grading the curve based off each person though. Go to class ready to do the online homework (due twice a week) during lectures to save time.

0 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 6 Years Ago

In comparison to Freedman, Gwinn is a saint. A much better alternative. She actually teaches in class, and there is one big homework assignment due Fridays, which suck, but it is better than having homework everyday. The grading scale curve is very generous, a 55% is a C-, a 85% is an A-. Her tests are hard, but she drops the lower midterm.

2 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS115A . 7 Years Ago

Her lectures are organized so it may be hard to tell that it's largely nonsense. With a bizarre subject like quantum mechanics, she should have been clear about what equations or concepts you can always fall back on and experimental information would have been helpful as well to understand the phenomena. She also conveniently didn't give out evals.

2 helpful 4 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 9 Years Ago

I'm not sure why there are so much negative feedback here. The lectures are clear and well-organized, the tests are reasonable, and the homework is very useful in preparing for the test. Though the class is not easy, the resources to succeed are readily available. Overall, Prof. Gwinn is an above average lecturer.

9 helpful 1 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 9 Years Ago

Gwinn must have improved from past years because I don't think she was nearly as bad as some of these reviews say she was. In class she teaches you the basic formulas and concepts and it is up to you to figure out the tough homework problems. The quizzes in section were very hard but she ended up dropping most of them. Tough tests, but big curve.

3 helpful 2 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 9 Years Ago

Her tests are extreamly hard. Lectures are boring and hardly useful. try not to take her class if can have another professor. If she is your only option, good luck. IDK how curve will be.

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PHYS1 . 10 Years Ago

Pretty bad lecturer, but seemingly very generous curve at the end of the quarter.

1 helpful 2 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 10 Years Ago

Gwinn's class was an awful experience. I went into the class loving physics and left frustrated, confused, and discouraged. The homework is due the day before she teaches the material. The midterms and final were impossible with little to no curve. You'll get through the class with friends and the book but it won't be easy or fun.

1 helpful 1 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 10 Years Ago

Just a terrible professor. When asked questions she refers people to the book, and does not respond to emails. Too bad engineers and others are forced to take this class, it is a waste.

0 helpful 3 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 10 Years Ago

Be prepared to do a lot of independent study. Do all of the extra credit problems in the homework and during section, they actually add up to about 6-8%, which is pretty darn significant considering how hard the class was. I didn't take AP, and the people who did still struggled, so I guess make sure you set aside time for this class. READ THE TEXT

0 helpful 0 unhelpful
PHYS1 . 10 Years Ago

Given, Gwinn was not a great (or even good) lecturer, and the given problems were challenging, but in my opinion grading was fair. The homework was often on material not yet covered in class, but this was to stimulate the development of critical thinking skills essential to problem solving. Furthermore iClicker questions were for extra credit.

0 helpful 1 unhelpful