If you are not good at logic solving then probably not the best course to take. Thought professor was fine, just that the hw's did not scale properly so you would get hw that was really easy then it immediately became really difficult and you would not know how to solve it. Hws usually took a while so prepare for that.
If you haven't taken AP physics DO NOT TAKE GELLER.
Be ready to pay 60 USD to access the textbook and hw for a quarter. There are 3 online HW due dates per week and a mandatory in-class essay administered during sections each week. The exams are entirely MCQs so it is very easy to get thrown to B-. Lectures are fine but don't provide sufficient insight. Just take someone else's class...
Great professors, but the exams you need to take are harder than the assignments and harder to get a grade for.
This has been one of my favorite classes due to both material and professor. Geller is great and I loved the lectures. Tests were kind of hard, but weren't weighted very heavily (final = 20%). There is kind of a lot of homework, but it was generally pretty easy and didn't take long. Doing/understanding homework is necessary for good grade.
Only chance to ask questions is in lecture. He is responsive and helpful, but you're expected to rely on TAs for info outside of class. Lots of homework and reading per week. Lots of studying is recommended, you cannot just do the bare minimum in this class. Grading is dominated by your homework and quizzes but includes long midterms and finals.
Taking Geller for 6A was the most miserable experience I've had in any class so far. He is useless. You would expect for a math heavy class he'd run through problems in lecture, but he didn't do a SINGLE practice problem with numbers. Unsurprisingly, class average on the final was a 50%. Prepare to spend many hours teaching yourself the material.
In terms of difficulty, his class was not free, but I think if you put in the effort, you can get a decent grade. For his lectures, I attended every single one because they were so fun. He is clearly very passionate about what he teaches, and that passion is very contagious. I would suggest you do a quick review before the discussion sections.
Absolutely terrible! If you have to take physics and you're stuck with Geller, wait and take it with Freund. Geller has incredibly hard tests with problems that have never been seen in class before. He doesn't tech to his tests in lecture, and gets off by making exams incredibly hard. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!! HE'S THE WORST!!
This guy loves to use Achieve, which is the most stupid homework system I have ever used. His tests are easy and his lectures are always useless. Achieve is enough. The most time I spend on is Achieve. You just need to do the practice test he gave for his test, they are really easy.
The online version of Astro 1 is a blend of easy mathematics (Usually the hardest math being like AP Physics 1 level), really interesting concepts, and such. Expect to read a LOT for the online version of the class but it isn't hard at all. Great for a STEM elective, just okay for a STEM GE.
This professor is the worst one I have ever met, he has unlimited and extremely hard HW to do once a week, almost 6 achieve and very tough to have good grades. Never take his class, never ever take his class
Geller's astro 1 is the first course I took in this UCSB which is great!. His lectures are interesting and he's a nice person if u join his office hour. However, the reading is mandatory and quite tough for a freshman if u have little astro storage (but not me). There the homework is not friendly for people deficit in writing and carefulness.
Not too hard but you should go to lectures. Homework is a bit difficult but often harder than the tests.
The homework is harder than lectures/tests. The exams are similar to lectures, so it would be wise to attend. If you took AP Physics 1 then this is very very easy, otherwise pay attention to mechanics.
Pros: I left his class knowing more about physics than I did with freund. HW is worth 40%, only one midterm and a final. Lots of in class demos Cons: Likely more effort than freund, and things you are expected to know for exams are less straightforward. More HW than freund, exams are a little harder, and less practice problems done in class.
Please take any professor over Geller. He provides no practices for the midterms or final, so you have no clue what you are getting into. Additionally, he assigns TONS of homework that benefits in no way, just soley busy work. Lectures are ok, however, he does not provide any practice for the extremely difficult exams.
He explains everything clearly and provides plenty of examples, so go to lecture!!! The tests are not super easy but fair, just do practice problems. The main con is that a few of the homework assignments were unreasonably long and there's a lot of them. Overall a good teacher who is passionate about the subject.
He is not as bad as people say. He really likes physics, and he loves explaining physics. If you do the homework you will get a B or A. Some weird quirks (do not email q's abt exams!!!!!) but you can tell he is a nice guy at heart. People pass off their lack of studying the material he provides as him teaching badly - physics just requires practice
He's a nice guy and his lectures are helpful, if a bit slow. There's lots of homework yes but most of it is helpful, and I found that if I was able to do the homework problems confidently, I'd do fine on the tests. His grading scale is really nice-- homework counts for a lot! I'd still recommend CLAS tho or relying on friends if you can.
Get ready to spend hours on homework that won't help you with the exams. With previous physics experience, the class will be a breeze, but the class is taught very poorly. He's nice and tries to make lectures fun, but honestly, the class is a major pain.Thankful for his grading scale though! Exams are multiple-choice and no partial credit is given.
I took Geller last quarter and I was essentially teaching myself the entire class. His lectures are not near enough of a help to get through the insane amount of homework he assigns so you have to cover most of the class's info on your own time. He makes the class more confusing than it needed to be because of his unorganized lecture style.
You can tell that Geller really tries to help his students understand physics in lectures. That being said, the resources he provides outside of class are not enough. Sign up for CLAS to get extra practice problems and do the Achieve since it's worth a lot. Our class did so bad that he made a 75% on the final a 100%, so there's hope for you.
This guy loves achieve, sometimes assignments almost every day of the week. Basically taught myself through the pre-lecture assignments.