Vibes were strange with this class, and I feel like I put way more work into a technical elective than necessary, but the grading criteria is straightforward and you do get to do independent research on a topic of your choosing.
AVOID THIS PROFESSOR!!! I'm a 4th year ME student at UCSB and Matthys is easily the worst professor I've had at UCSB. The hw and projects are vague and impractical. He is incredibly unhelpful to students' questions. His expectations are unrealistic and he enjoys belittling his students.
Matthys is by far the worst professor I've had in 7 years of higher education. His homework assignments are 4 pages long to say nothing, unclear and his expectations are way too high.
Ok i got A- in ME 152B and got F in this class. Enough said.
This guy is the worst of the worst. Claims his quizzes are conceptual but makes you derive random equations. Refuses to address questions during quizzes and tests. Grading is nonsensical. I thought the HW and the book were actually pretty useful, but unfortunately the exams are completely different. Also makes you do weird feedback assignments. Ugh
one of the worst professors I've had at UCSB. requires 2+ hrs of online lectures as well as being at lecture to make sure you don't miss a surprise test. exams based on derivations not practical use, so make sure you memorize those.
Good luck.
I loved his class! It was very challenging, but incredibly interesting. I loved how he gave a series of quizzes instead of one or two midterms. This allowed you to gauge your progress and push towards a better grade. Also, his homeworks are worth very little, so if you do poorly on those it doesn't hurt you.
Don't be deceived by his initial attempts at being nice. The previous statements are true. He is always trying to catch cheaters. He is just a very unhappy individual who finds pleasure in making his students feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I don't want him to teach ME 151C. He is just not a nice person to be around.
$100 say he is the worst professor ever set foot on campus
Worst ever. He may be a decent person underneath but terrible at teaching. His notes resemble chicken scratch. Every drawing he crosses out and never writes a full word down. The book is great and interesting. Grading is inconsistent. Tried to convince his TA's to not give partial credit. He needs to be removed from professing, permanently.
I'm honestly confused why Matthys has such a bad rap. He's not the best professor I've had, but he's not bad either. The class was a more qualitative than quantitative than I expected from a upper-division engineering course and the tests involve more understanding and less number-crunching, which I suspect threw some people off. HW is confusing.
He's kind of harsh. Homework is not too hard, but takes long to finish. To get a good grade, READ THE TEXTBOOK AND PAY ATTENTION IN LECTURES.
Professor Matthys gets a bad rap on these pages and that's unfortunate. Bottom line: he puts a strong emphasis on intrinsically understanding stuff and NOT rote memorization and usage of formulae. He might come off as gruff, uncaring, and stern. But so what. I think he really does care about his teaching.
i didn't get a good grade in this class...but he is one of my favorite prof in here, becus i know what's goinging on and i never ever fall asleep in his class!! Lectures are great, and you do learn a lot if you show up to class. HW and final are fair as long as you know the matrls/concept. plus, good teacher always make student think(& struggle)!
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Easy subject, somewhat, but an insanely **** professor. The guy needs to be put in a cannon and shot to the moon. Let's see him find the Reynolds number of that!
The class was pretty basic, but he tried to over complicate things and the ego got in the way. Its too bad, cuz it is a cool subject.
His idea of teaching concepts instead of math sounds good in theory, but he lacks the teaching skill and personality to do so. His talent relies in making all of us feel dumb and inattentive instead. Creates an ugly competitive environment among students. I respect him profesionally, hate him personally. Don't bother asking him q's during midterms.
Disagree that tests are based on rote memorization; of all ME profs, Matthys's tests are probably the most conceptual, although grading is extremely harsh. But he grades on a curve, so who cares? Excellent lecturer: really wants us to understand material from physical point of view. Shows up to discussions personally, really puts in a lot of time.
all you have to do is memorize the derivations and the spit it back out on the tests. he is crazy but ended with an A after a 32 and a 14 on the midterms. just do good on the final. and dont cheat cuz he will try to kick you out of the school.
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matthys isnt out to help- he's out to get every student for cheating or something else ridiculous. sorry that his homework is so hard that we can't do it alone. he is contradictory and an ****.
You must be able to derive everything. Read the book over and over. You can't fake your way through this class you must really understand. He asks math questions but expects essay answers. He is mean as hell but actually a good teacher. Don't try to talk to him you'll hate him after.