Tommy P. is a good teacher. He expects a lot from his students, and he has no patience for stupid people. To get an A from him you have to really earn it. If you can get past the southern accent and the innumerable references to Everclear, you'll find he's one of the better professors at UCSB.
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He should have been a sports broadcaster on espn, he talks like one. this class was impossible, i don't know how i got a B in it, he makes it SO hard to understand, and if you don't get it he makles you feel like a retard. He should not be teaching these huge intro classes, he's very impatient, and the tests were way hard.
There's 2 levels of expectations in that class, his and the TAs. He is the biggest jerk I have met. He knows his stuff he just can't tolerate anyone with less knowledge than him. It would be better for everyone if he was locked up in his lab, not allowed to teach. Many of his colleges are still trying to figure out how he got tenure.
This professor simply does not know how to teach. He just went over the powerpoint slide really fast. He didnot explain anything and still expected us to understand. TA is more helpful. The final is extremely hard, but the curve helps a lot.
I didn't really like this class. He uses a power point, and goes way too fast. After awhile, lecture started sounding like all the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon ("Wah wah wah, wah wah"). I haven't spoken to anyone who learned from lecture. I kind of liked the labs. My TA was great, and while some labs were stupid, they were easy to understand.
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Not too bad. I liked him because he was hard. He would make his tests damn near impossible and no one got an A before the curve, but the curve seemed pretty generous and he's great at making sure everyone learns the basics by making his tests hard. And he kinda looks like Peter from Family Guy!
Excellent teacher, only stupid people fail his classes.
Had him a while ago. Easy to talk to, very approachable...but make sure you really try hard at understanding the material before going to his office hours. He doesn't like people who wait for him to hand them the answers. Make sure you keep up with the reading.
He is the worst professor I have encountered at UCSB. Instead of teaching the material, he would mock and insult his students if they were unable to answer one of his questions (this was in a class of approximately 250 students). Overall, he turned me off to organic chemistry.
He's a decent teacher, but if you're fairly studious. Avoid his classes if you're either not a chem/biochem/premed student or you're not already slightly familiar with Ochem. Both his tests and his personality are vile and evil.
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This is the class you have to go to office hours and put absurd amounts of time and effort into. Take CLAS, consistently put in at least 3 hours a day, and you won't even have to really study for the midterms and final.
challenging class that reqires lots of work. pettus will tell you everything you need to know for the tests but you need to be on the ball the whole quarter or you'll get lost quick. good way to study for tests is to do book problems.
Hard class, pettus can be harsh but seems to want people to learn. Go to class every day. Tests are tough.
THIS WAS THE WORST CLASS WITH THE WORST TEACHER I HAVE EVER TAKEN MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE. All he wanted was for us too fail, at least is how I felt. He shouldn't be teaching, or he should learn how first!!!!
Damn hard course. Of course ochem is going to seem simple after working with it for half your life and teaching intro courses every quarter. Good luck with the final.
Pettus- You are the devil incarnate. You have no compassion, and get pleasure out of ridiculing students. I have never met anyone so inconsiderate and rude in my life. Oh and if you believe that the book has errors in it, write your own!...
guy jumps around in lecture material, talks fast. but his test is not too bad.
the class kicks your ass but if you can hang you'll learn a lot
Dr. Pettus: Teaching is not about watching students struggle and thereby boosting your ego. It's about helping, sparking interests, and making students see how cool O.Chem can be; three qualities you are seriously lacking!
really really hard but you learn a lot