Professor
Anna Simpson
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Seeing her previous 5C reviews, I was nervous to take this class, but I think this professor has significantly improved since that one disastrous quarter. Take this class if you are either trying to just fulfil the physics requirement (like me), or are horrendously awful at physics (also me lol). They are definitely a professors that is on the student's side. For example, discussion worksheets were worth 10% of the class, and were graded only by completion, and although the homework were on mastering physics, if you went to their office hours they would help and tell you the answer. They also offers up to 25% of your midterm grades back if you correct your work, and again just going to their office hours would tell you how to get to the answer. All of these things helped me get an A-, which I am honestly so happy with considering that for both midterms I scored the mean score. tbh since their lectures were at 8am, I would just read the textbook and her notes to self study, although the lectures were recorded (which is great compared to corbin). The few lectures I did go to though, I did understand what was going on and I think they were explaining things fine (but I'm probably not the best to judge since I snoozed my alarm too much to make it to many classes). Their notes are a great resource, and they did not have errors as compared to her 5C class. They would also post summary sheets of useful formulas for the week's content. The midterms and the final were quite fair, as the questions were not too challenging but also not too simple - just study the material and you should perform fine. They are also super helpful and accommodating in exams: open to answering questions, and they even went out of the lecture hall to find a calculator for someone who forgot theirs for the test. Our TA told us that they was actively getting help from other professors to improve their teaching and classes, and I think it definitely showed in how they organised the class this quarter. I think if you took their class in the future, it will get better.
Spring 2024 - Seeing her previous 5C reviews, I was nervous to take this class, but I think this professor has significantly improved since that one disastrous quarter. Take this class if you are either trying to just fulfil the physics requirement (like me), or are horrendously awful at physics (also me lol). They are definitely a professors that is on the student's side. For example, discussion worksheets were worth 10% of the class, and were graded only by completion, and although the homework were on mastering physics, if you went to their office hours they would help and tell you the answer. They also offers up to 25% of your midterm grades back if you correct your work, and again just going to their office hours would tell you how to get to the answer. All of these things helped me get an A-, which I am honestly so happy with considering that for both midterms I scored the mean score. tbh since their lectures were at 8am, I would just read the textbook and her notes to self study, although the lectures were recorded (which is great compared to corbin). The few lectures I did go to though, I did understand what was going on and I think they were explaining things fine (but I'm probably not the best to judge since I snoozed my alarm too much to make it to many classes). Their notes are a great resource, and they did not have errors as compared to her 5C class. They would also post summary sheets of useful formulas for the week's content. The midterms and the final were quite fair, as the questions were not too challenging but also not too simple - just study the material and you should perform fine. They are also super helpful and accommodating in exams: open to answering questions, and they even went out of the lecture hall to find a calculator for someone who forgot theirs for the test. Our TA told us that they was actively getting help from other professors to improve their teaching and classes, and I think it definitely showed in how they organised the class this quarter. I think if you took their class in the future, it will get better.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - 5C is rumored to be the easiest in the 5 series, but I would repeat 5B five times before taking 5C again with Simpson. I want to like her and have nothing against her as a person, but it is clear with every passing day that she is not equipped to teach. She only uses the blackboard for lectures, which is fine, but she miswrites equations at least once in most lectures. She spends lecture sharing the philosophy/derivations behind certain concepts but never tells us how to apply them to problems, or even mentions which formulas to use half the time. I don't need to be spoon fed, but I have never felt so lost in a class until now and I have dealt with many other first-time professors and started in the Physics 1+Math 32 series. I have been teaching myself entirely out of the book for the first time in my life (which is a regular old physics textbook, not like a "for dummies" handbook) and learning the important equations from the directions/hints on the MasteringPhysics homework. The average on the first midterm was a 52, which is lower than any other class I've ever taken, and for reference I'm a godawful test taker but managed an A on my 5B midterms. She told us she hopes we do better next time (bruh), as if collectively failing was a reflection of us. She also said she would curve grades up to an average of 85 (!), which is more than generous, but then she decided after the first midterm that she will not adjust any raw scores until we have our final grades. She will not commit to a curving scheme until after we finish the class, so we really have no way to know how we are doing until it's too late. Again, she has her upsides. She is curving generously, releases (messy) practice midterms, does (unproductive) midterm review sessions, is dropping our lowest midterm, and she never seems unkind or unwilling to help. Also, all the TAs are helpful. I want her to improve and hope she does with time. But this quarter with her was a nightmare. Ok sorry for writing a whole dissertation. Just be careful yall. xoxo gossip girl
Fall 2023 - 5C is rumored to be the easiest in the 5 series, but I would repeat 5B five times before taking 5C again with Simpson. I want to like her and have nothing against her as a person, but it is clear with every passing day that she is not equipped to teach. She only uses the blackboard for lectures, which is fine, but she miswrites equations at least once in most lectures. She spends lecture sharing the philosophy/derivations behind certain concepts but never tells us how to apply them to problems, or even mentions which formulas to use half the time. I don't need to be spoon fed, but I have never felt so lost in a class until now and I have dealt with many other first-time professors and started in the Physics 1+Math 32 series. I have been teaching myself entirely out of the book for the first time in my life (which is a regular old physics textbook, not like a "for dummies" handbook) and learning the important equations from the directions/hints on the MasteringPhysics homework. The average on the first midterm was a 52, which is lower than any other class I've ever taken, and for reference I'm a godawful test taker but managed an A on my 5B midterms. She told us she hopes we do better next time (bruh), as if collectively failing was a reflection of us. She also said she would curve grades up to an average of 85 (!), which is more than generous, but then she decided after the first midterm that she will not adjust any raw scores until we have our final grades. She will not commit to a curving scheme until after we finish the class, so we really have no way to know how we are doing until it's too late. Again, she has her upsides. She is curving generously, releases (messy) practice midterms, does (unproductive) midterm review sessions, is dropping our lowest midterm, and she never seems unkind or unwilling to help. Also, all the TAs are helpful. I want her to improve and hope she does with time. But this quarter with her was a nightmare. Ok sorry for writing a whole dissertation. Just be careful yall. xoxo gossip girl
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