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.
Only take Feldwinn if you want to teach yourself chemistry. The only people in my class that knew what was going on in lecture were people that had already taken AP chem in high school. She is incredibly bad at explaining things. Her tests are harder and she gives more homework than any other professors. She's nice, but not a teacher.
She always explains the concept in detail but the progress of lectures is much slower than other profs. She gives additional contents which is good for those chem major students, but hard to understand for others. You have to do a lot of homework in her class, and she is the only prof whose tests include free responses questions.
Went into the final with a 99% and wrote scribbles on the side of the scantron so she failed my final. My grade was so high that I still ended with a B. She can't teach for her life and all she does to "teach" is read off of her powerpoints that can be found online. She is an awful teacher and is extremely unfair. DROP her class ASAP
Everyone says that she is the most difficult chem professor at UCSB--they are right. While very nice (which explains her 3.5 rating on here) her tests include free response questions that are usually worth about half your grade. Her lectures are really hard to follow and the practice exams don't suffice when it comes to the free response question.
She's a hard teacher and tough grader, but she gives a lot of extra credit opportunities. As long as you are willing to put in the work, you will get a good grade. Do the practice problems and all of the practice tests and you'll be fine. She's a really good teacher and really helpful if you have questions.
Feldwinn's class is solid and tough if you want to learn new knowledge. Her tests are the hardest (only one to contain short answers). For a CHEM or BIO major, this might be the right choice if you are a tough learner. But for my major, it was not worth the time and effort. She has a good pace in teaching and is very kind to students.
Dr. Feldwinn certainly is a nice person. That said, her consistent mismanagement of time, often comically incoherent lectures, and general failings as a teacher render this class a L. If you can avoid Feldwinn, do so. If you have already taken AP Chemistry, you will probably be fine. If the material's new to you, know it seems to be new to her too.
She is very enthusiastic for an 8 a.m. and I love that about her. She's really passionate about chemistry and will help you with any problems you're having as long as you communicate with her. She is an amazing lecturer and really helps you understand the material, but only if you do whats assigned and pay attention.
DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. I did all the book problems, aleks problems, 2 of her practice exams. I didnt expect those question on the exam bc I never seen them before, not in book/aleks/practice exam. I reviewed everything I got but I DIDNT EXPECT THE HUGE DIFFERENCE IN P.E and R.E. If u didnt take AP chem before dont take this course.
I had Feldwinn for chem 1A, B and C. I liked how tests were short answer and multiple choice because of partial credit. The tests were usually straight forward, questions taken straight from Aleks, iclickers or the book problems. But sometimes she would excessively go over unnecessary material or try to fit in 3 concepts during the last 5 minutes.
Her lecture is compact but easy to follow. The exams are more difficult than in-class practices and homework, but even you did terrible in one midterm you still get a chance to compensate by doing better in the final. i really appreciate her personality. She is truly willing to answer your questions and her 8-AM lecture helps people wake up.
Tough grader, class averages are very low and she says she curves but it's practically no curve, read the textbook, don't do aleks for studying, only do it for the required homework, have to go to class for iclicker participation points
overall feldwin is a good professor and is really passionate about chem. she clearly understands the material. her midterms are free response which sucks if your not a good test taker. she has a before class iclicker question so you need to be early to class in order to do it. her iclicker/in-class examples pop up on tests a lot
I should have read the reviews prior to taking her course. Expect to get very lost in her class unless you're completely comfortable with Chem. If you're looking to pick up anything from her fast lectures, make sure to seek help outside of class.