She was one of the best teachers I have ever had. Her classes were always engaging, and made it easy to develop a strong liking for chemistry. Her tests were very fair, especially if you practiced. She makes it very easy to pass, and even get an A.
Petra is an overall great teacher. The material covered in class is somewhat basic and then the exams tend to be more applied and difficult to figure out. The final was a nightmare! The average for my class of over 400 was a 62% and the curve wasn't that steep, part of the reason for a lot of grade drops, like myself. Study and do book problems.
very good teacher, v clear and helpful
She's definitely one of my favorite professors, and I wish she taught Chem 1B. DEFINITELY NOT AN EASY A! I got a C in her class because I slacked off pretty hard; however, if you do the assigned homework problems like you're supposed to and do ALEKS, you'll get an A. She grades pretty leniently. Go to her office hours. READ HER EMAILS!
Love this professor! I have never been so happy to be pushed so hard. After I took Van Koppen's class my first quarter at UCSB, I had no more second thoughts about being a chemistry major.
She is awesome. Her class is difficult, but she pushes you to understand the material more deeply.
Van Koppen is the best professor! She makes sure you understand the material and is always willing to help. Tests are difficult, but manageable if you do book problems. Definitely recommend her!
Van Koppen is really clear in her lectures. Sends out emails before class on how to prepare for class and they are really helpful. Her tests on the other hand are the WORST, they're a slap across the face. They are the hardest tests I have ever taken and her final was insane. Great professor, but tests are ridiculous
Honestly one of the best teachers I have ever had! Hard class with a lot of work but she is so helpful and approachable! Do the text book problems for sure! And aleks is terrible...
Great professor! Extremely helpful! She made Chemistry very easy with clear lectures and emails that give you helpful practice problems. The final though is impossible (defiantly hurt my final grade). However, I recommend her for any Chemistry class!
Look, Van Koppen wants you to do well, so take advantage of that. Follow her emails and read the text book to understand the material. She only has 50 minutes in class to teach, its up to you for the rest. Very good professor.
Professor Van Koppen is really helpful. As long as you take her online exams you should pass. The final was extremely difficult but as long as you do well in the beginning of the course you shouldn't have trouble passing. Not an easy A.
Van Koppen is a quality teacher, her quizzes and exams are pretty easy if you pay attention in class and study. Beware of the final though. If you do well the beginning of the quarter you should definitely pass. She is really passionate about teaching and loves to help students who go to office hours and such.
Van Koppen was such a sweetheart! She is also an amazing teacher who explains everything very clearly. I never even opened my textbook and got 100% on her midterm. She really wants you to do good - GET HER.
oh petra, she's awesome. quizzes are easier than midterms which are way easier than the final. do the book problems and go to her review sessions. take CLAS with eric. love petra, she's so kind. iClicker class, but all gen chem classes are. go to class, pay attention, do your aleks (even though she loves extending it). sad she isnt teaching 1c :(
She's awesome best chemistry teacher around. Take her and you won't regret it. Just so you know the midterms are chill. The final is HORRIBLE so yeah a heads up. But she does definitely care about her students. I mean its chemistry its supposed to be hard.
Despite not liking chemistry, she made it manageable. Book problems aren't for credit, but she takes the some of the same questions and puts them on her exams.
Class is very straightforward, really basic concepts. First two midterms were extremely easy but the final was definitely a surprise. While, for the midterms you could use her past tests, for the final this would be useless as it was mainly concepts. Still it was pretty doable
She is very clear during her lectures. I had a tough quarter and did not do the assigned problems or anything extra besides CLAS and got a C. From what I can tell, her class is harder than other 1a professors', but she is a good teacher. WOULD recommend her if you're willing to work
Great teacher. Very helpful, I recommend you go to lecture it helps a lot. Do assigned book problems and the homework and you'll do good on the tests.
go to class and follow the instructions in her emails about what to read and you'll be fine. just make sure that at the end of every week, you're caught up and where you should be. got an A- without using CLAS because I read the book. actually my grade should go up when she curves the final and the class
Good professor, but extremely challenging. I recommend using CLAS in order to understand the material.
She was really nice, loves chemistry and loves demonstrating experiments in class. She was really awesome, and is definitely one of the easier chem teachers, but all chem is hard.
This teacher made chemistry bearable for me which is saying something for someone who hated chemistry the first time around during HS. She is a very good teacher and very reasonable!