Stuart is passionate about the material but this was his first time teaching this class in a while so lectures were a bit disorganized. If you're interested in particle physics or science in general, I'd recommend this course. It's an easy pass and you get to learn about some interesting stuff without the typical academic pressure of a STEM class.
His lectures were ok. His homework was ok. His tests were ok. Office hours were better. I genuinely enjoyed learning from him. He's a great guy.
Stuart is nearly useless when it comes to explaining the material. He frequently goes on unrelated tangents and never works examples in class. Terrible dull lectures, you're better off reading the textbook instead. Pop quizzes are similar to HW. Go to lab and ask TAs questions, they know more than Stuart.
He was a great teacher! He had very clear lecture notes which were very helpful for understanding the concept. He gave practice exams and reused questions in the actual exam. His tests were not hard if u read through his lecture notes and understand them well. He expects you to be able to derive equations and use them in the tests.
Stuart is a really funny guy and his explanations are super clear. Quantum can be very confusing but Stuart does a great job of projecting the material. Stuart doesn't care much for the ridiculously long calculations on exams, he leaves that for the homework. He follows Griffiths pretty close and he fills in the steps that Griffiths skips.
Ask any physics major what their least favorite class is, and they will likely say 127 because the labs are so time consuming. The class itself is not that difficult, Stuart is a funny guy in and outside of the lectures. Grade breakdown was: Labs 40%, Quizzes 10%, HW 20%, Final 30%. He has clear lectures notes, just follow them and you'll do fine.
This class was fun, all you do is literally sit in a room for 50 minutes a week and you get a unit. No homework or even class participation necessary. If you dont even show up Im sure youll still get the unit.
Taken P/NP. Easiest pass, doesn't take attendance. Showed up late to every class and still passed. Counts as honors credit. Inspirational and well renowned faculty
A truly great teacher, intelligent lecturer, and a good mentor. You'll have a difficult time finding anyone who cares more about his students.
The course covers more topics than a typical physics course so it's tough to keep up with reading but it helps that he posts notes online with useful examples he doesn't cover in class. Going to his office hours was helpful and often necessary to finish the homework. The avgs on 104 tests are higher than for 103 so you'll prbbly do better in 104.
Stuart often drones on throughout the class, describing some long often quite obscure derivation that you must pay attention too because it will most likely be on an exam. Boring lecturer, somewhat unpredictable testing style. Best to avoid if you can.
Overall he's good at teaching, he covers the material well & definitely knows what he's talking about. But to do well in his class, you'll have to REALLY know the material, being able to do only homework problems isn't enough since the HW difficulty isn't anywhere near the test difficulty. Also he's not super helpful during office hours.
Since there are so many topics in mech compared to other phys classes, studying for the cumulative final is time-consuming. I wish I'd put more derivations and equations on my cheat sheet. Homework assignments were fair and the online lecture notes helped a lot. The avg on the final was a high F and "25% of the class fails every year" (his words).
Honest grader, straight forward lectures, and a genuinely nice guy. He won't compromise on the syllabus for you if you forget to turn something in, but as long as you stay up to date, the way he runs the class is very clear & fair. The type to console you if you fail an exam. Not the best, but great. Homework/midterm/final grading kinda sucks, tho.
He posts all lecture notes online, including many extra examples that didn't get covered in class. Allows you to focus on lecture instead of writing notes. Very helpful to go through his lecture notes after the material is covered in lecture if you were lost. Easy to talk to and very helpful if you go see him during OH.
Hws are very tough. Exams are less tough but still hard, but he curved the class a lot. If you take him, be prepared to read !
He assigned so much homework and the grader was extremely thorough. Sloppy notation was given minus points. Tests were very annoying because he would say study everything but then have a key focus on certain sections. It was a hard class just because his tests weren't very easy and some of the problems seemed very random.
His lectures are really good, and he does tons of examples in class. If you do well on the mastering physics homework he assigns, you'll do well on the test. He curves so that the class average is a b-/c+, but only curving up.
Take the class with a different professor if you don't want to risk failing. Some people pull it off and get A+s but for those who are not into theory, this class can be a nightmare. Better to wait a quarter and take phys 4 with an easier professor.
His lectures are pointless if only to slightly introduce the material. Your best bet is to pull the notes off the web and read them. Your cheat sheets for his ridiculous tests should consist of examples from his lecture notes and the equations. Never went to office hours but I hear he is friendly and helpful.
Posts lectures online. Allows 1 sheet of notes for midterm and 2 sheets for final. Tests consisted of multiple choice and free response. Extremely difficult tests, big curve though.
his lectures are hard to follow, teaches things only using symbols like "B" in stead of saying "magnetic field". Hard homework. But he is a funny teacher.
Everything he says in class are posted online. Exams are easy and hard at the same time (you'll see why) but big curve. I got an A+. I'll tell you how. (1)Go to every lecture and pay attention. (2)Print out all lecture notes and study them. Go over them again before the exam. (3)For equation sheet, put equations and examples from lecture notes.
Hate his lecture due to his lack of ability to present the material and it was so boring that you cannot resist falling asleep. The demos in class sometimes won't work, so you have to imagine it did. Hard exams, but he will curve it depends on the average.