Ive had feldwinn for chem 1a & 1b and although her class is pretty hard shes also such a great professor! Shes very open to questions and going over any concepts. go to office hours & do book problems and you should be fine. a lot of questions on her test are similar to practice problems she gives and goes over in class
do not take Feldwinn. maybe its different in person but online was insane. the expectations of the class were ridiculous and she has no idea how to teach. she is super confusing and our whole class felt that same way. the only way I did well was because of the final curve but seriously stay away.....
If you care about your mental health, don't take this prof. Her explanations make chem 10x more difficult. She makes impudent remarks about students failing by choice, undermining the insane amount of hours per day they dedicate to make up for her inability to teach. Khan academy is the only way you'll survive (plus the final curve).
First of all, no. Avoid feldwinn at all costs!! Especially if its online, there's a reason why her class had 180 spaces while all the other ones were full. I ended up giving up on her class and switching my major too since it drained all my passion for chem. Feldwinn is good at chemistry, but she is certainly not good at teaching it.
Holy mackerel. Great lady, but that class was a rollercoaster. She drops one midterm out of three, on homework, and one quiz out of four, so you have some leverage. But DO NOT slack off in this class!! Follow the instructions on the test, she will not give back points willy-nilly for silly mistakes. Half of each test is FRE. Not too bad though.
Prof Feldwinn's class is definitely not a breeze but also do-able. Go to office hours and do the book problems she assigns. Her office hours are pretty helpful and she is always ready to answer any questions without hesitation.
Feldwinn is nice and her office hours are super helpful. Don't be afraid to say you don't understand because she reuses a lot of questions for tests. Online tests are mostly type-in answers for all or nothing credit. Study problem sets from class, lectures, and ALEKS - don't worry about the really hard book problems and ALEKS topics. Go to class!!!
Feldwinn seems like a nice person, but I found her teaching style to be bland and I never found myself excited to go to class. No partial credit is awarded on tests, so a few arithmetic mistakes lands you a D on a midterm. I think it's been tough on her teaching remotely, but the bottom line is you won't pass if unless you've already taken AP chem.
The lectures aren't too bad, and the office hours are usually helpful if you go. The midterms and final were way harder than the practices provided, so watch out. If you don't get off to a good start in this class it will be hard to get a good grade. Curve was minimal.
Shes a wonderful and energetic person, she definitely didnt make me dread waking up at 8a.m but her class is a no. I spent countless hours studying and reviewing lecture videos, which are not helpful at all, just to end up failing almost every midterm/quiz. The tests are nothing like the practice tests she has available. Dont. Take. It.
Darby is singlehandedly responsible for countless students changing their majors. Be ready for tests that look nothing like the study material, incoherent lectures and a lot of condescension. She does her best to make a hard class the hardest it can possibly be. And she doesnt curve more than like 2% MAX
I took this class online due to COVID, so my review is only viable for those who take this online. Professor Feldwinn has some of the worst lecture videos I have ever watched, you will need to be adamant about asking questions during office hours (which she runs very efficiently) and reading the textbook in depth. Youtube saved my life.
She gives you 4 minutes to answer fill in test questions, but takes 30 minutes to explain a problem in class. Then, she'll get it wrong and you're even more confused. Go to her office hours or you will learn nothing. Even then, you end up teaching yourself chem. I might get a B, but I was lucky to ace the first test. It's all downhill from there.
Don't listen to the negative reviews. She is not that bad. She's very sweet and chem is hard, but you just need to put in the work. She is always ready to help out students. Definitely do book problems and any extra problem she assigns, attend office hours and you will be fine.
I had a 4.3 GPA in high school and had the highest grade in my high school chem class. I figured this class would be a piece of cake. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! Especially if you are an incoming freshman. Her lectures make zero sense and if you fail one test you will suffer, even if you get 100% on all of the other assignments. BEWARE!!
Do not take this professor if you value your personal happiness. Very harsh grader, insane time limits on quizzes and tests, 3 midterms and 4 quizzes, on top of all that she doesn't explain anything. Good luck to anyone unlucky enough to be in this class, I was stoked about a 50% on a midterm.
Does not give ANY partial credit for tests for online school. If you make a single mistake on a 12 pt problem, even if your procedure was 95% correct, you drop to a B. Another missed problem drops you to a C. 3 wrong problems and you fail. These tests have 15 questions
Very sweet and energetic! But goes over lectures so quickly and if you havent taken AP Chem its very difficult to understand. Never got above a 60% on exams, even though I was doing 3 hours of chem a night. This class is what made me switch majors.
The lectures were solid and explanations were clear, but this is coming from someone who already had background knowledge in chem so the course was basically a review for me. She is the only professor who teaches this course that does free response questions rather than multiple choice.
Shes an awesome professor! Most people complain and they say her class is too hard, especially since shes the only gen chem professor with free response tests. However, she gives partial credit and a lot of extra credit opportunities. She is super straightforward. Do the book problems and you will be more than fine!
Nice and interesting professor. Her lecture is clear and she is helpful outside class. Exams are graded strictly, which include free-response questions, but there are lots of extra credits so you'll be fine.
She goes pretty quick during lecture so it gets pretty difficult to keep up but she explains things well when asked for help. You will get a good grade in the class if you know how to answer the book problems. It is impossible to do them all but the more you do, the better your grade will be. It helps a lot to do the reading before lecture.
JUST DONT. will not understand a word she said if you didn't take ap chem.
Took this class during my first quarter of college. You basically have no hope unless you've already taken AP chem. Couldn't tell you what she was talking about in 75% of the lectures, speaks quickly and in a very confusing manner. This class made me reconsider my entire existence, not to mention my major. The fact that I passed is a miracle.