GELLER R M
geller is very passionate about astronomy but you have to stay on top of the lectures and assigned reading or the concepts will be hard to understand. homework was online but easy, sections were essay questions (also easy), but some midterm/final questions were tricky and weren't covered in lecture.
Geller is a good lecturer but PHYSICS IS HARD. Test averages are pretty low, but Geller always sets reasonable curves to ensure the success of his students. The online homework is tedious, but a big grade booster and good for practice. Downside to taking Geller is you don't know what to expect on exams since he only has 5 practice questions total.
He's a chill guy. He loves Astro which makes it fun to hear him talk about things like the multiverse. Hw is through Achieve which is not my favorite but its manageable although kinda annoying. For a GE though, it does take a lot of time for reading and then rereading to study.
Class average for the Midterm and Final were 57%. Multiple students emailed him and his only reply was "you should try harder". The same class with Freund had an 85% average.
fun lectures that are both interesting and informative. cool demos. focuses more on the concepts rather than how to solve a problem in lectures, but it works b/c the textbook. tests are reasonably difficult. only dropped due to a medical emergency and not Geller himself
On your next pass time look at Geller vs. Freund on gold. Freund's class will likely already be full. Geller's will have 300 open seats. That says enough, doesn't it.
Prof Geller was very thorough with his lectures, you should go to lecture if you want to understand the material fully, along with reading all the chapters assigned. If you're interested in this topic, its not hard to pay attention and grasp the concepts, if you're not interested, its probably going to be rlly hard. Lots of hw too, but easy.
Bro loves Achieve, and while it's irritating, I learned more from Achieve than I did from him. You gotta teach yourself. He's passionate, but lectures are highly conceptual and fairly disorganized, with very few examples. Tests are all MCQ and mostly fair; you just have to practice. CLAS helped a lot, and so did the practice problems and exams
I was placed into his class because the other sections were full and was a little nervous due to the other rate my professor ratings. However! Geller is my favorite teacher at UCSB so far, even as someone who isn't fond of physics. You will succeed if you understand problems from HW, textbook, and assigned practice problems (not rote memory).
Not very good at teaching, but I was fine because I took physics in high school. The content is essentially the same as AP Physics 1. There's also a few homework assignments due every week and they're graded by accuracy. Start learning the content before the quarter starts and be prepared to teach yourself almost everything.
Conflicting feelings. Lectures are pretty useless, purely conceptual. Homework is a large percent of your grade, so failing is pretty impossible, but that's offset by the low test averages (71, 60, 57). These were his highest averages ever, according to him. You have homework due every day. Take Freud if you can't take a mild hit to your GPA.
I adored Geller's Astro 1 class. You can tell he loves teaching it. The class was thought-provoking and made me appreciate life more. If understanding the universe, stars, planets, and other celestial phenomena sounds boring to you don't take the class. His physics courses artificially lower his rating. Don't let that deter you from taking Astro 1!