Thank you, Kusenko.

Kusenko's lectures can be difficult to follow at times, but reading over the Kudu notes helps drastically to understand what he was talking about in class. The homework questions start off quite easy and progressively get harder. Personally, I felt that the second midterm was much easier than the first. He allows cheat sheets on his exams and it is worthwhile to copy down any examples he does in class or any homework questions that you aren't unsure of onto these cheat sheets as he uses the questions he went over in class and assigned for homework on the midterms, with variables or numbers changed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he gave everyone in my class a 100 on the final which is totally unheard of and amazing. Overall, I would recommend Kusenko over the other 1A professors as he is quite lenient on grading and understands student needs.

Kusenko is a fucking G. Soviet badass who made physics fun during class for every moment I was actually paying attention. Tests are very straightforward and often ripped right off kudu, so redo homework and practice problems. Would take again 10/10

KUSENKO IS A HOMIE! Despite the fact that he gave all of us 100% on the final due to coronavirus taking over lol, he is a decent lecturer (who uses MANY fun demonstrations in class) and gives really straightforward midterms! His grading scheme is amazing, as homework and in class participation (Kudu questions) accounts for 25% of your grade. That being said, do the homework and show up lecture for basically a free quarter of your final grade. Discussions are not super important - TAs make their own practice problems and review what you're learning in class that week. The first midterm had an average of 83 and the second had an average of 87, and the TAs grade really nicely. As long as you mostly understand the concept, they will give you a huge portion of the points. He doesn't always explain things super well in class, but as long as you ask questions, he is very willing to take time to further explain!! I didn't really like physics in high school, but I definitely enjoyed it with Kusenko!! I would highly recommend taking Physics 1A with him:)))

Kusenko clearly cares about this class, and his students. His lectures are entertaining, with numerous demonstrations. He does a good job at explaining concepts, and working out problems with students.

Homework does matter, along with participation. He uses a program called Kudu, which costs much less than textbooks (but still costs money). It has pretty useful lessons which supplement the class well. Note the professor actually assumes you READ the lessons while doing prelecture activities.

Homework and participation (which occurs as Kudu problems assigned during lectures, with only 10 minutes to do them) count for points as the number of questions you got right. The homework, altogether, is worth the same as one midterm, so it should be taken seriously. I'd say that it was graded too harshly, as students only get two tries per question for homework graded on correctness. You could, however drop your 2 worst HW assignments and your 3 worst participation assignments.

The tests will be hard, but the class will be curved in your favor. People tend to get A's through absolute scaling, while other grades (A-, B+, B...) are assigned through the curve.

Besides homework, there isn't much to complain about. You WILL have to go to lecture, but they're entertaining so most students want to go regardless.

TSAR ALEXANDER THE GOAT. WHAT A G. This dude. Corona took over our school, so our Tsar took over the world. Gave us all 100% on the final by default cause we couldn't take it in person.

All in all, incredible professor, incredible guy. Concepts and material are thoroughly covered, and midterms are not at all hard. Would take again no question.

Great guy, didn't really like the class though. His lectures can get pretty convoluted and hard to follow. In class problems range from brain-dead easy to impossible (even for the grad students, according to my TA). Discussions aren't mandatory or worth anything. The online textbook he uses, Kudu, is appropriately priced at $50 for the quarter. The content of the book, however, wasn't very helpful, especially at the end of the course.

Very nice and understanding guy, you can tell he really cares about his students. Tests aren't bad, but if you don't study on your own you'll be kinda screwed (in terms of the curve). Allows a double sided cheat sheet for every test. He also uses the higher grade between your raw and curved score, which is nice.

I recommend you take this with a different professor as I feel like I didn't learn very much in this class. My roommate had the other professor and knows so much more about mechanics than I do. You might walk into the rest of the physics series unprepared after taking 1A with Kusenko.

Kusenko is a super nice guy and generally cares about student learning. The exams in his class are pretty easy and straightforward and he doesn't curve down.

Professor Kusenko is a very nice guy and one of the better physics professors for 1A. However, his course was still challenging for me. I came into this class expecting it to be similar to AP/IB physics, but the reality of the class was very different. First and foremost, participation matters. We used an online program called Kudu through which we answered a bunch of in-class questions, most of which were pretty difficult, so either stay engaged during lecture, or make a bunch of friends ASAP. When it comes to office hours, don't expect to come in for a free answer to a homework question. He will have you try to answer on your own, and he will help you once he knows for sure you're headed in the wrong direction.

As far as exams, the midterms were difficult and had vague instructions for you to give answers in a level of detail appropriate to explain the problem to a friend or your professor. I got destroyed on the first midterm but actually did slightly better on the second, which meant I had a little bit of leeway to do not-so-good on the final. As far as the final, there were 6 problems (20 points each, 120 points total, formula sheets allowed--just like the midterms), only one or two of which were actually difficult. My exam average (both midterms and the final) was just over 73%, but I still ended up with a B. This is because Kusenko uses one of two grading scales: a straight scale (participation+hw=25%, midterms=20% each [40% total], final 35%) or a curved scale that evaluates you relative to your classmates. Based on the scales, he uses whichever one gives the higher score, which was the case with me.

Overall, I was overwhelmed many times in this class, but I actually did learn some important concepts I didn't really grasp in high school. So, if you must take 1A, make sure to get him.

Because of the coronavirus, our finals was CANCELED and he gave everyone 100 on the finals. Which was great for me because I did well on the midterms and homework and in-class activities and ROTATIONAL MOTION WAS SO HARD. I'm really glad prof Kusenko realized how everyone will just group finals if finals become online, and it'll be really unfair for people who don't cheat.
For his class, I think he's not the best lecturer, because he rushes through the materials and I got really confused throughout the whole quarter. But it is understanding considering how much he has to teach and how big the class is.
His homework is nothing like what he taught in class and he frequently puts grad school problems in the homework. So I would suggest work on the homework with someone and make friends in class because he has "activities" in class that counts into your grade. Try to get full score on the in-class activities and the homework.
His exams weren't very hard. I think it was fair and isn't as hard as his homework. Definitely do the extra problems on Kudu for extra practice and review the in-class activities because a lot of the problems are the same.
Kusenko is a really cool guys, has a bunch of Soviet stories, and has a bunch of Soviet tricks... I mean cool experiments in class which makes his lectures engaging. Would take his class again if I can. He's awesome!!!