Professor
Gerard Wong
1 of 2
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - as the other reviews say, homework is given out in discussion (freebie), and the final presentation is also basically a freebie so long as your group does its work. Wong is nice and I love his research, but his lecturing is just,,, not engaging and he goes on tangents a lot. the final (which he calls a midterm) is also very straightforward, just get those core concepts down and you're good to go. his notes are lowkey a mess and super difficult to read, so get them from a friend instead if you miss class. I skipped lecture often because I did not find it engaging, and it did not make a difference in my performance at the end. final exam was basically the practice final. TBH, this class is a free A.
Fall 2021 - as the other reviews say, homework is given out in discussion (freebie), and the final presentation is also basically a freebie so long as your group does its work. Wong is nice and I love his research, but his lecturing is just,,, not engaging and he goes on tangents a lot. the final (which he calls a midterm) is also very straightforward, just get those core concepts down and you're good to go. his notes are lowkey a mess and super difficult to read, so get them from a friend instead if you miss class. I skipped lecture often because I did not find it engaging, and it did not make a difference in my performance at the end. final exam was basically the practice final. TBH, this class is a free A.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - Overall, Wong tries hard to teach a fair class without excessive work. He seems like a nice guy and does not want to pressure students with too many burdens. Discussions are not mandatory, and there were only a few that were held (~2-3) to deal with homework problems. Also, Wong primary uses the chalkboard to write notes, so bring your own notebook. He uses slides as a supplement and there are some things on there that he tests you on, but they are on basic things (e.g., from LS classes with DNA) that you should already know. There is a lot of math in BE 139A, but he does not test you on deriving equations. He draws boxes around important formulas. For the final, I went through all his notes and memorized the boxed formulas. One issue is that Wong's notes are not too organized, and I just didn't feel like the class topics synchronous, but maybe that's because I am not a person who is invested in materials science and math-heavy things. I do respect Wong's work, just for the record. He is well-versed in his area and gave several insightful anecdotes in class. He is the epitome of a professor who leans more on the fair side. This class is manageable, and I recommend taking an elective with Dr. Wong, as he tries to make the experience interesting and not too stressful. Grading scheme is as follows: 30% Homework: Based on class notes. There were a couple of discussions where the TA pretty much just went over the answers BEFORE the HW was due, so go to these! It is difficult to do the HW without going to discussion imo. 30% Group Project: Wong gives a couple of lists of papers and a group of about 3-4 students (you pick your group) presents a summary and critique of this paper using PPT with a template that Wong posts. Try to choose a paper that you feel comfortable with. It was daunting at first for me, but as I read the paper and worked with my group members, it did not turn out so bad after all, but this is just a single experience. Be prepared for questions both from classmates and from Dr. Wong. 30% Exam: Wong calls it a "midterm" even though it is given on the final day of class. Like I mentioned earlier, go over all of your notes and memorize whatever he boxes in class. I am not sure about his other classes, but again, with 139A, I feel like Wong could organize his notes somewhat since I was not sure what was exactly important and what was necessary to know in many cases as I was studying. The first few questions are short answer, followed by an exploratory longer answer, and finally you have several computational problems (this is especially where the boxed formula memorizing comes in handy) 10% Participation: Ask questions in class to the point that Wong knows your name, and I think you should be fine. Overall, this class was on the less stressful side, but PLEASE never take this for granted. Always take your work seriously, and you will go far.
Spring 2017 - Overall, Wong tries hard to teach a fair class without excessive work. He seems like a nice guy and does not want to pressure students with too many burdens. Discussions are not mandatory, and there were only a few that were held (~2-3) to deal with homework problems. Also, Wong primary uses the chalkboard to write notes, so bring your own notebook. He uses slides as a supplement and there are some things on there that he tests you on, but they are on basic things (e.g., from LS classes with DNA) that you should already know. There is a lot of math in BE 139A, but he does not test you on deriving equations. He draws boxes around important formulas. For the final, I went through all his notes and memorized the boxed formulas. One issue is that Wong's notes are not too organized, and I just didn't feel like the class topics synchronous, but maybe that's because I am not a person who is invested in materials science and math-heavy things. I do respect Wong's work, just for the record. He is well-versed in his area and gave several insightful anecdotes in class. He is the epitome of a professor who leans more on the fair side. This class is manageable, and I recommend taking an elective with Dr. Wong, as he tries to make the experience interesting and not too stressful. Grading scheme is as follows: 30% Homework: Based on class notes. There were a couple of discussions where the TA pretty much just went over the answers BEFORE the HW was due, so go to these! It is difficult to do the HW without going to discussion imo. 30% Group Project: Wong gives a couple of lists of papers and a group of about 3-4 students (you pick your group) presents a summary and critique of this paper using PPT with a template that Wong posts. Try to choose a paper that you feel comfortable with. It was daunting at first for me, but as I read the paper and worked with my group members, it did not turn out so bad after all, but this is just a single experience. Be prepared for questions both from classmates and from Dr. Wong. 30% Exam: Wong calls it a "midterm" even though it is given on the final day of class. Like I mentioned earlier, go over all of your notes and memorize whatever he boxes in class. I am not sure about his other classes, but again, with 139A, I feel like Wong could organize his notes somewhat since I was not sure what was exactly important and what was necessary to know in many cases as I was studying. The first few questions are short answer, followed by an exploratory longer answer, and finally you have several computational problems (this is especially where the boxed formula memorizing comes in handy) 10% Participation: Ask questions in class to the point that Wong knows your name, and I think you should be fine. Overall, this class was on the less stressful side, but PLEASE never take this for granted. Always take your work seriously, and you will go far.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Professor Wong, and his classes, are in general super chill. Don't remember the exact breakdown but it was a couple of homeworks, a journal club group presentation and a final. Lectures are mostly board writing and he doesn't post notes, but attendance isn't mandatory. He is a pretty engaging lecturer and is super helpful if you need extensions or anything. Honestly never went to discussion so unsure if it was useful but I didn't feel I needed it. You also don't need 139A as a prereq.
Spring 2022 - Professor Wong, and his classes, are in general super chill. Don't remember the exact breakdown but it was a couple of homeworks, a journal club group presentation and a final. Lectures are mostly board writing and he doesn't post notes, but attendance isn't mandatory. He is a pretty engaging lecturer and is super helpful if you need extensions or anything. Honestly never went to discussion so unsure if it was useful but I didn't feel I needed it. You also don't need 139A as a prereq.
AD
1 of 2
