Chem 1B is harder than 1A but Professor Feldwinn explains the material well. Go to office hours if you have questions. She will try her hardest to make concepts understandable. Do the book problems because her test questions are very similar to them. She is the sweetest professor and really cares about her students!
I signed up randomly for Feldwinn during orientation and am happy I did. She makes the content interesting and tries to help her students succeed. Her tests are majority free response which is difficult but forces you to learn the material. Make sure you do the book problems! They are so helpful!
Darby is honestly my favorite professor at UCSB. She is very caring and really wants her students to succeed. Her tests are very straightforward if you take the time to do the book problems and learn the material. I am so happy I took her class and would take any class with her in the future.
Lectures unclear. Even after multiple questions, still confused. Feldwinn is available to students and seems like a nice person; I just had a touch time in the class. Every question is a trick question.
Green Works was my favorite class I'd taken at UCSB. Lots of activities, labs, and work given outside of class (Earth day, Ecotopia paper). You'll learn the science behind green tech (wind turbines, car batteries, circuitry, PVs, lighting, green buildings). Darby is an intensive grader, but she does curve the class. Having a 20 person class is fun
She is my favorite chemistry professor, she cares about her students and loves what she doing. If you do not want to put so much effort on chemistry or just take it as a major prerequisite. Do not take her class! The exams will have massive calculation and limited time!
Darby Feldwinn is a pretty okay professor. However, she prides herself on having difficult tests. Even her quizzes have redundant trick questions that seem to be testing your command over the English language rather than your command over chemistry topics.
If you can get Kunkel or Price for Chem instead of Feldwinn I would highly recommend it! Tests are hard and she is not very understanding. Gives iclicker "pre-class" questions at 8am exactly so you have to show up at least 5-10mins early to do them even though class hasn't started.
She really cares and loves what she's doing,. That why her lectures were so interesting. Very passionate teacher.
Feldwinn is despised by many because she gives free response and short answer tests - the other professors are all multiple choice. She is the most difficult chem 1 professor. That said, her lectures are engaging and she is very good at explaining confusing concepts. She is an excellent teacher, but she is challenging.
Good overall professor, you're forced to learn the material. Her class is much more extensive than the other two or three chem profs, from what I've heard. Tons of homework. That's a good thing in terms of absorbing the material, but bad for your grade. Her tests are very tough, and she throws a few tricks in there. I wouldn't take again.
Feldwinn is one of the best instructors. Even though she is very challenging and difficult, she makes confusing information crystal clear! Go to office hours! She is extremely helpful and wants her students to succeed.
She explains the material very clearly. It's also very helpful to go to her office hours. Chem1B is harder than her Chem1A class. If you keep up with the reading, work the book problems, and attend lectures, getting an A in her class is doable. She drops one of the lowest quiz grade, and also replaces one midterm with final.
Prof. Feldwinn is the best professor I've had so far. Her lectures are very clear and helpful. Tests aren't easy, and you DO have to work hard. Tests are consisted of free responses and multiple choices. Attending lecture and doing the assigned book problems is the key to acing the exam! She also curves the class and gives a lot of extra credits.
She's just so annoying and makes things way harder than they needed to be.
Feldwinn's probably the most straightforward out of all the general chemistry professors. Tests are hard but there are very few trick questions: it's all about practicing and making sure you know what you're doing. She gives out small amounts of extra credit, but her focus is on making sure YOU get the material (solubility song :D). Great lectures!
If you are not a morning person and you know it, do not take this class. you might think you can do it but in reality it will affect your grade if you don't show up or stay awake during lecture. this is the first class i failed in my whole life, if you have the choice choose any other professor DO IT. DO NOT RISK your grade taking this class.
Feldwinn is a great teacher. She tries to explain things clearly. However, tests are tough. If you want to have good grade, you must do a lot of book problems and actually attend lecture. Iclicker points isnt worth anything by itself, but it replaces ur lowest quiz grade. I was struggling the entire quarter, but her curves are generous.
Her lectures are moderately clear and her pace is fast. She has iclicker questions, with 1 being given before each lecture; some appear on her midterms. Her tests are both free response and MC; they are difficult, but the class is curved. She is always willing to help, either with midterm questions or concepts.
If you're a freshman, do not take 8AM with Feldwinn. I repeat, DO NOT TAKE 8AM WITH FELDWINN. You will fall asleep. You will not pay attention. She seems easy at first, but just you wait as the quarter wraps up. She's energetic but not clear and moves on very quickly. Take Chemistry with another professor. TRUST ME.
If Feldwinn is your only choice for Chem 1A then may the lord have mercy on your grade. She is not necessarily a bad teacher, it's just that for an introductory general chemistry class she makes it really hard on the students.
Her class is really hard. Luckily, she is really helpful at her office hours and there is a good chance you'll pass if you attend them. I had a C- then before the final went in every time i had a question and raised my grade to an A-.
Hardest Chem 1A professor out there. If Chem is your only real class of the quarter, and you have enough time to devote to doing book problems and lots of studying, you'll be fine, but if you're taking this with 3 other challenging classes - get a different professor. She's really good at teaching when you go to her office hours, but her lectures..
I hated chemistry before this class, but I really like it now. She is very clear in her explanations, and she uses bookhw probs on her tests. If you pay attention in lecture, do the homework, and do the book problems, it is easy to get an A or at least a high B in the class.