Professor Nelson knows a lot and deeply cares about his students. He tries his best to make the course as fruitful as possible but too many stuffs are crammed into a 10 weeks introductory course and the lectures notes are hard to follow and sometimes incorrect. The material spans a wide number of topics, yet falls shallow in terms of depth.

He is absurdly disorganized and a terrible lecturer. His lectures are unhelpful and he is too distracted by his own thoughts to teach anything. Do not take at all costs, he will not help in any teaching.

Nelson shines insights on concepts that are not explicit in the textbook and blends his lectures with his rich experience in the field. The lecture notes and homework are poorly worded and hard to follow so attending the lectures would be necessary.

The most disorganized physics professor I've had so far. About 40% of lecture is off topic and talks about random tangents which god knows why. Has no section problems, and no structure for course schedule. I have no idea why he is rated so high. I'm 4 weeks in so maybe he gives easy tests but if you want to learn, avoid him at all costs.

Very good professor. It's just that I don't know why section needs so many iclickers. In addition, the homework are a bit difficult.

Super nice guy with lots of stories to tell. Clear grading criteria, was very generous with grading. Go to his office hours hes a very good person to talk to

Never a lecture I didn't love. Grading policies are pretty fair. But he handled not having TAs horrendously. tests had to be multiple choice & he refused to give answer keys to practices, forget worked solutions. Made it hard to know what to study which sucks in a class that is so fast paced and material dense....

There is weekly homework which is to be expected from most STEM classes. His lectures are super engaging and I can tell that he really cares about teaching. I also get a sense that he cares about the students. The sections were a little annoying though.

Super funny guy, made me excited to learn about physics. Homework was pretty hard, sometimes containing things he hadn't gone over in lecture. Tests were multiple choice and weren't too bad. Doesn't curve the final grade.

Super high energy. Like a puppy after 15 cups of coffee. His class was a bit disorganized, but I had fun and I learned a lot.

Nelson is THE MAN!!! He's super smart, helpful, and always wants the best for his students. If you get the chance to take a physics class with him, DO IT! You won't regret it.

Nelson is by far the best physics professor I have had at UCSB. He is always eager to answer questions, and excited to teach the material. He clearly loves what he is doing and takes teaching very seriously, though his easy going outwardly demeanor sometimes suggests differently. Finishing my last class with him was definitely bittersweet.