I had Popescu for Phys 1, 2, and 3. Her video lectures for Phys 1 and 2 were really well-made: informative and concise. I found her in person lectures to be hard to follow at times due to the difficult material so you really have to pay attention. She offers a lot of extra credit so it shouldn't be too hard to do well in her classes.

Lectures were okay, and she definitely cared about her students. I learned a decent amount conceptually, and hw & online quizzes helped improve understanding a bit. Not too difficult to pass the class, don't expect to become a physics mastermind with this course, but you will learn general overviews of the concepts and do decent in the course.

I found the lectures impossible to learn from. She will do long and complicated derivations for the formulas you need to use rather than actually practicing problems. The rest of lecture was filled with her reading from slides which are copy and pasted directly from the textbook.

Awesome lecturer who just wants students to understand material. Doesn't care for making insanely difficult tests like most of the physics department.

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.

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.

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.

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.