When I think of OChem, I think of Dr. Lewis. You have to take this professor if you're taking Ochem here. He is such an amazing professor and his lectures are so concise and easy to understand. Read the textbook, do the book problems, and attend his lectures if you want an A in this course. Ochem is hard, but if you work hard, you're golden. Gluck.
Robert Lewis is seriously one of the best professors here and he really cares about his students. The bad reviews from his class are from those who either got a bad grade or simply didn't put enough time. Organic chemistry is hard in itself, but Lewis' exams/quizzes were always fair. Nothing was unexpected on the exams and do book problems!
literally so hard. way harder than other professors. puts stuff on his quizzes that you've never seen before and expects everyone to know it. Averages are always below a 50%. Unhelpful when you ask questions and blames you when he makes mistakes on his worksheets I had to retake and ended up with a B the second time around.
Read the textbook, most of his lectures come directly from it. He's nice, but doing well requires a lot of consistent work.
Dr. Lewis is by far the best chemistry teacher here. He is so passionate and great at explaining concepts I went from hating and almost failing gen chem to kind of enjoying ochem. He is very caring and responsive to students. The class is a lot of work but if you attend lectures, do textbook readings AND BOOK PROBLEMS you can succeed in this class.
DUDE HOW DOES HE HAVE A 5/5 literally has been off his sh*t these past two quarters:(
Just absolute Daddy GOAT. He posts lectures and discussion videos online. Goes through the materials thoroughly. Very fair exams and quizzes since he ACTUALLY tests you on the stuff he teaches. Very accessible outside of class as he really tries to establish various ways of contact. Everybody can do well if they really tried. Great Prof, Daddy GOAT
Take him if you will get a C in the class because youll prob be curved up to a B. However if you have a good raw grade, it does not get curved up the same amount as kids with worse grades.
Prof. Lewis is an amazing professor and truly cares about his students. He is extremely accommodating and is available outside of class whenever you email him. 109B is really tough, but he does explain the topics well. The key to doing well is learning mechanisms and MEMORIZING REACTANTS!!!! Doing that will at least get you a passing grade.
What he tested on quizzes was usually not what he discussed in lectures. You have to read the textbook hard in order to master this course. He was also a tough grader. People were suffering from ochem, but he provided minimal curve. He significantly sapped my motivation to learn more ochem. So, why take his course?
Excellent lecturer and speaker in general, the material is really hard but Lewis teaches it as simply and clearly as he can and does an amazing job. Love him!
Lewis is a great professor and cares about his students' success. I did struggle in the course though solely due to the structure of the course. We have quizzes every other week, which I feel doesn't give enough time to gain clarification on topics one is not solid on for the quizzes.
Easily one of the best professors at this school. You can tell he really cares about his students and that he's truly passionate as a teacher. He's understanding, accommodating, and an all-around amazing professor. I highly recommend taking this professor for Ochem. For such a brutally difficult subject, Dr. Lewis makes it bearable and actually fun
Professor lewis was great. He allowed corrections on quizzes if you gave good reasoning to why you deserve points. Quizzes make up most of your grade but if you do well on the final that could help if quiz scores are low. Also curved the class. taking him next quarter for 109B
For OChem, Lewis is an amazing professor. For how difficult the content was, his quizzes were always fair and tried his best to prepare us with the amount of time we had. OChem is a really hard class in general, so a lot more of it comes down to personally studying and doing book problems.
First time in a year that Ochem classes were in person. His class is def doable to get a good grade in and attending Office Hours will help you. While I didnt do as well as I hope bc of poor time management his class is very fair with six quizzes and no midterms only one final and also some homework points. He is approachable and a great help
Lewis is one of the few professors here at UCSB that genuinely cares for students. His teaching is by far one of the best and made o-chem not as bad as it seems. His quizzes are very fair and if you want an A I recommend putting in the work to do book problems since it's very similar to his exams.
Lewis is a pretty good professor. His lectures are good, has a clear grading criteria, and genuinely wants his students to succeed. This class is very difficult though, you will need to do the practice problems in the textbook if you want to succeed, it isn't enough to just attend lectures.
Lewis is a solid option in this dept. He is pretty clear in grading criteria, and always explains what is needed to be successful in the course. But, the course isn't easy. It is tempting to not show up for lecture/cram for exams but that will lose you a lot of important points. Space studying, ask questions. Try not to rely on the curve. Good luck
Maybe my favorite professor at UCSB even though chemistry may be the bane of my existence. I took Lewis for the entire Ochem series online so we had weekly quizzes which made up most of our grade and one "final quiz". I watched the lectures and then read which made the book an easier read. Does give some opportunities for extra credit. Lewis GOAT
Prof Lewis is hands down the best professor I have ever had at UCSB! Very fair and genuinely wants his students to learn. A real gem! Ochem is still very hard but felt much easier than the gen chem series because of his teaching!
Goat, highly recommend for ochem. He was very accommodating during the pandemic and even tho ochem was easier online than in-person, if you do book problems and keep up with the readings you'll do good in the class. His lectures are helpful and held discussions sessions where he'd go over material that was in the weekly quizzes. Really nice guy!
BEST PROF IVE EVER HAD AT UCSB. Professor Lewis made learning ochem a breeze (if you put in the work, obviously). Super understanding of student situations and doesn't try to trick you at all on exams. If you have the choice of Lewis vs any other professor, PICK LEWIS!!
Lewis is a great professor. His lectures are clear and straightforward, quizzes and grading is fair, and hes super understanding and accommodating! Course is definitely not easy but lewis provides you with everything you need to do well. highly recommend taking OCHEM w/ lewis. I liked ochem way more than gen chem thanks to him.