I like her as a person because you can tell she knows what she's talking about, planned the lectures well, and wrote a pretty great, thorough lab manual. But this class needs to be more than 2 units. It takes probably over 5 hours weekly, not including the 3 hour 50 minute lab section and the 40 minute quiz.

Rudest professor I've ever encountered. There was a mistake in the grading system on one of my larger assignments, and Professor Van Koppen was extremely rude and still didn't give me ANY points on my assignment because my work "didn't deserve any points anyways", even though it did because I spent 6 hours on it. She only cares about research :) .

Lab reports make up most of your grade. They are time consuming, and if you have a TA that grades strictly, make sure you are very detailed and attend office hours for help (you do not want to miss easy points). Study previous quiz/review/pre-lab questions before quizzes. Quizzes can be tough, don't underestimate them! Grading policies are strict.

I never actually met Professor Van Kopek face to face, but her lectures were clear and straightforward, and the grading criteria was well established from the beginning. The quizzes are hard, but once you get the hang of the wording and style, good grades are attainable. Would definitely take Van Koppen again.

I love Dr. van Koppen. She is so kind and accessible. Her grading is very straightforward and her rubrics are extremely clear. Despite taking this series online, I learned a lot and feel prepared for in person labs. I do recommend choosing a good TA and if anything feels off, contact Dr. Van Koppen ASAP. Not hard to get an A if you work hard.

Online labs suck, but what really sucks is if you get a terrible TA in this course. The rubric is not clear & includes so many details, it's impossible to cover them all without going over page limits. If you get a nice TA, you're lucky. Wish I switched sections because mine sucks & now I'm probably getting a C.

I don't understand at all how this is a 2 unit class. Each week, you have to watch lecture & experiment videos, write lab report+review questions, write a pre-lab for the next lab and take a 40-minute quiz. I spend MUCH MORE TIME on this than my 4 or 5 unit classes.

Terrible transition to online. labs are very confusing, w/ vague rubrics and inconsistent grading styles from different TAs. Learning online makes it very difficult to understand what is being taught. A 20 min lecture, a lab video, and section per week doesnt mirror an in-person experience at all, yet the expectations are just as strenuous.

Your grade really depends on your TA. Each TA I had each quarter varied A LOT. But the most annoying thing was the fact that Petra would sometimes change the GRADING RUBRIC and wouldn't say anything. I lost a couple of points for not having something on my lab report even though it wasn't mentioned in the version I had downloaded.

The lectures themselves were easy to understand. here comes the bad part: VERY LITTLE guidance and clarity given on the labs themselves, lack of clarity on the rubrics and organization is basically nonexistent. Conflicting information coming from the lectures, personal office hours, and from the TAs. Very disorganized, unhelpful for online!!

Depends on your TA and your performance on quizzes. With the quizzes, you also have to watch lectures, complete 2 labs, and go to section meetings each week. This was very time consuming but, with effort, you can succeed. I only had a few conversations with the professor and she seemed very kind and caring as she helped me with issues with my TA.

Depends on your TA and how you perform on quizzes. Besides the quizzes, you also have to watch lectures, complete 2 labs, and go to section meetings each week. This was very time consuming but, with effort, you can succeed. I only had a few conversations with the professor and she seemed very kind and caring as she helped me with issues with my TA.