Like what everyone else said in the reviews, Bauer's exams are reasonable and in my experience/opinion, I don't think he had any "curveballs" in the exam. The best way to prepare would be to consistently do the textbook problems (especially the "General Problems" section of the book) and stay caught up with the lectures and weekly homework assignments (which are just as do-able.) He also allowed us to bring a cheat sheet with a front and back side filled with anything you wanted for the midterms. The final was adjusted to be more accommodating because of the strike (as our second midterm was disrupted by strikers)––it had two components where the first component was an in-person, open-note, 12 question multiple choice exam and the other 50% was an asynchronous, Gradescope-submitted 1-page reflection on your performance on a past midterm. He did host review sessions where he ran through the equations and did problems problems that people requested but I personally didn't really find them helpful––though it was nice of him to make himself available as a resource.

Bauer's lectures were clear and straightforward as he would explain the important concepts and tell you what you would need to know for problems and the exams. He's not the most charismatic or energetic but I'd say it was much more helpful than reading the textbook (especially when it came to the wave, light, and diffraction units). He also Zoom recorded his lectures so you would be able to both see what he wrote on the board and hear what he was saying when you watched them again.

My interactions with Bauer were next to none because I didn't attend his office hours nor did I participate in Campuswire, but he seems like a chill guy. Overall, the course had a reasonable workload and fair exams––you just have to put the time into studying.

I literally hated this class with my guts. One time I asked Prof Bauer a question and he said "I feel like you should know how to do this"... very unhelpful. Take w another prof if u can. Also he does Mastering Physics and I HATE THAT SHIT

I really liked how Professor's Bauer's taught and his quizzes and tests were very reasonable.

This is just my experience, but after taking the MCAT and having to study some of the concepts for that exam, relearning them in class was a bit weird because the difficult topics (or at least ones that were difficult for me) like fluids and optics weren't explained as in-depth as thermodynamics. Maybe this is just the way the course is set up, but I honestly reverted to my MCAT notes to review the concepts because lecture didn't do enough for me.

I would definitely take some time in addition to lecture, lab, and discussion to do practice textbook problems. The main reason why I struggled with the biweekly quizzes is that I just memorized the equations and assumed that the word problems would be straight plug and chug (which was not the case!!). I think this class is doable with Bauer, and he's not a bad professor, around average I'd say.

Dr. Bauer is amazing and extremely helpful. I highly recommend taking any/all physics courses with him!

Bauer is a great lecturer, and he's always open to student feedback; I had him for 5A during the summer, obv had him for 5B bc of this review, and taking him again for 5C. I can tell he genuinely makes an effort in wanting to improve his class structure, but with that being said 5B was rough due to all the papers. The midterm paper he assigned took forever to grade bc he overestimated how much time he'd take to give individual feedback, and overall didn't really prepare us for the final paper that ended up weighing 5 times more lol. Since I just went to his 5c lecture, he's since gotten rid of these papers, so I can say with certainty he does indeed listen to student feedback, and will probably not bring these papers back if he decides to teach 5b again.
other reviews may say that he doesn't listen, but also there were so many anon comments and posts on campuswire that quarter begging him to change the grading scale each and every week and being rude when he replies that he just wants grades to be worth something. from a student standpoint, I agree that the grading scale was rough (my grade might fool you but I barely made that adjusted grade cutoff), but there was no need for bitterness. show some respect.

material wise, 5b is easier to understand than 5a, bc it's a lot easier to conceptualize. labs are also less frustrating bc we no longer deal with tracker (instead, get ready for your new best friends phyphox and imageJ, which aren't that bad honestly).

bauer does prerecorded lecture vids that he plays during the lecture time, so attendance for that isn't necessary. he explains things very simply yet concisely. I've never taken physics before in my life but have so far been doing well in the series bc it's easy to understand him
(or maybe bc it's also online lol)

even under a sh/tty grading scale, i'd still choose bauer over any other prof. he lectures well, and if you genuinely want to learn something, you can trust that he'll deliver. he recommends reading the book for supplement, but honestly his lectures are enough for understanding material and formulas if you'd rather apply that time elsewhere (such as doing practice problems). the book is great review for looking at problems and examples though, since he doesn't incorporate a lot of those in his videos due to time constraints. also, do all the practice problems he suggests so that you actually understand how to apply the formulas (and this means actually doing them, not looking at solutions unless checking your work, so that you're actively applying what you learned). having a cheat sheet alone will not prep you enough for his exams, which tend to be on the harder side since topics are often interconnected.

This class was rough! I expected it from a physics class yes but I was not prepared for the written midterm paper that took 4 weeks to grade, and the similar final research paper alongside an actual final exam. Ontop of that we had weekly quizzes every Wednesday at 9am, and we were not allowed to drop any of them. This made it hard to get your grade up again once a little mistake was made. Discussion was easy, graded on completion, and we used Pearson for HW. Overall I wouldn’t take it again with this prof, considering how much more lenient the other physics professor was this quarter, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world considering my lighter workload in other classes

One of the best professors all around! He was super flexible, gave fair exams, and his lectures were really great. 10/10 recommend.

Dr. Bauer is a legend. He is extremely considerate and understanding. He really cares about student learning (and it shows). His exams are very straightforward (but not easy), and try to test only a student's practical application of knowledge. He doesn't give weird or convoluted exams just to trip the students up, like some other professors do. He responds to emails quickly and stays on top of campuswire posts. His lectures are all podcasted so it's easy even for internationals to keep up with the class. He also spends a decent chunk of time explaining concepts that he anticipates will be difficult to understand. Take Bauer if you want a straightforward course that offers marvelous concept clarity!

Summer Sessions always go by faster, so it does make it harder, but Dr. Bauer really made the class manageable . My only prior physics experience was 5A, and I felt like 5B was easier than that tbh. Lectures were pre recorded and he played them during the lecture time and answered any questions asked while the recording plays though he will occasionally pause it. We had weekly homework on mastering physics, and weekly quizzes through gradescope. There were five quizzes and he dropped the lowest score. There was also a final exam. All of the assessments were synchronous. You didn’t have to be on zoom or anything, but you did have to take it at a set time. I personally found the quizzes to be much harder than the final, but also not impossible. Overall though, I would still take the course with Bauer again!