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- PHYSICS 1B
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Prof. Saltzberg is a nice guy. He knows his stuff and he has an amazing passion for physics. Even though he puts me to sleep sometimes (or it might be the food coma), he is a great teacher and everyone can understand the material thoroughly with him.
P.S. don't fall asleep.
There's a lot of conflicting information in regards to his effectiveness as a professor and the difficulty of his tests. I cannot clear up the former, but for the latter I'll mention the medians for the tests:
Midterm 1: 83% - Grade distribution looked like something from high school.
Midterm 2: 52% - It actually looked like a bell curve.
Final: 64% - Not quite a bell curve, a bit more people on the higher side.
Despite the low average on the second midterm, I found the difficulty to be okay. I'm guessing that many people assumed his second test would be just as easy as the first, and people didn't study that much. They probably studied harder for the Final after the semi-disastrous midterm 2 and hence the higher average. The final wasn't actually that terrible, just that there's a lot of concepts to remember from all of Physics 1B.
Homeworks: He provides his own homework set weekly. Difficulty from problem to problem ranges drastically, same with his tests. But a lot of similar problems are covered in lectures so you can do most of the homework on your own. Besides, the TAs can help as well during discussion, and I'm pretty sure Professor Saltzberg would be willing to explain the stuff as well. I only say "pretty sure" because I never had to resort to going to his OH for homework help.
Excellent professor. His lectures were very well-prepared and informative. He won't make you laugh that much, but he's still a great lecturer - makes things interesting. The homework is a little scary, since there are no solutions in a book, but it can be done. Set aside 4 hours on average for it, unless you're going to copy ;). His tests are not bad, I only had trouble because the material is a little tricky. If you have a choice though, take Saltzberg.
I cannot say Professor Saltzberg is one of the greatest professors at Physics Department but I cannot say he is a bad professor either. I would say he is an average professor overall. I definitely can tell that he did the best he can to give an excellent education in physics from his efforts both in lectures and outside lectures. Every teacher has strengths and weaknesses. His strengths are he definitely cares about students learning especially for those who also care about learning the beauty of Physics (you know some of us only care about getting good grades without really learning the materials) Go to his office hours and ask questions if you don't understand his lectures. He would be more than willing to guide you step by step until you really understand. In terms of his tests, they are very straightforward. Just do his homeworks and you will do fine in his midterms and final. His weaknesses are lectures often are not clear and always confusing to me, but some students may think he explains well, so it really is relative. But comparing to Prof. Whitten, he is much better!! At least not boring because of his demonstrations. Those who had Prof. Whitten should know this. Overall, I would recommend him for Physics 1B. Remember, go to his office hours if you don't understand. He would explain to you much better than in lectures!
Saltzberg embodies what a great professor should be. Every lecture not only emphasizes important concepts well but also its relevant applications to our everyday lives. It may have been one of the most challenging classes I've ever taken, but also one of the most valuable.
Prof. Saltzberg is a nice guy. He knows his stuff and he has an amazing passion for physics. Even though he puts me to sleep sometimes (or it might be the food coma), he is a great teacher and everyone can understand the material thoroughly with him.
P.S. don't fall asleep.
There's a lot of conflicting information in regards to his effectiveness as a professor and the difficulty of his tests. I cannot clear up the former, but for the latter I'll mention the medians for the tests:
Midterm 1: 83% - Grade distribution looked like something from high school.
Midterm 2: 52% - It actually looked like a bell curve.
Final: 64% - Not quite a bell curve, a bit more people on the higher side.
Despite the low average on the second midterm, I found the difficulty to be okay. I'm guessing that many people assumed his second test would be just as easy as the first, and people didn't study that much. They probably studied harder for the Final after the semi-disastrous midterm 2 and hence the higher average. The final wasn't actually that terrible, just that there's a lot of concepts to remember from all of Physics 1B.
Homeworks: He provides his own homework set weekly. Difficulty from problem to problem ranges drastically, same with his tests. But a lot of similar problems are covered in lectures so you can do most of the homework on your own. Besides, the TAs can help as well during discussion, and I'm pretty sure Professor Saltzberg would be willing to explain the stuff as well. I only say "pretty sure" because I never had to resort to going to his OH for homework help.
Excellent professor. His lectures were very well-prepared and informative. He won't make you laugh that much, but he's still a great lecturer - makes things interesting. The homework is a little scary, since there are no solutions in a book, but it can be done. Set aside 4 hours on average for it, unless you're going to copy ;). His tests are not bad, I only had trouble because the material is a little tricky. If you have a choice though, take Saltzberg.
I cannot say Professor Saltzberg is one of the greatest professors at Physics Department but I cannot say he is a bad professor either. I would say he is an average professor overall. I definitely can tell that he did the best he can to give an excellent education in physics from his efforts both in lectures and outside lectures. Every teacher has strengths and weaknesses. His strengths are he definitely cares about students learning especially for those who also care about learning the beauty of Physics (you know some of us only care about getting good grades without really learning the materials) Go to his office hours and ask questions if you don't understand his lectures. He would be more than willing to guide you step by step until you really understand. In terms of his tests, they are very straightforward. Just do his homeworks and you will do fine in his midterms and final. His weaknesses are lectures often are not clear and always confusing to me, but some students may think he explains well, so it really is relative. But comparing to Prof. Whitten, he is much better!! At least not boring because of his demonstrations. Those who had Prof. Whitten should know this. Overall, I would recommend him for Physics 1B. Remember, go to his office hours if you don't understand. He would explain to you much better than in lectures!
Saltzberg embodies what a great professor should be. Every lecture not only emphasizes important concepts well but also its relevant applications to our everyday lives. It may have been one of the most challenging classes I've ever taken, but also one of the most valuable.
Based on 11 Users
TOP TAGS
- Appropriately Priced Materials (1)
- Tough Tests (1)