Prof. Garcia is fairly new to lecturing, but I think he still did a good job of covering material. His 1B class is way easier than other professors' (like Corbin's), but you still learn. Granted, you may not learn to be the expert problem-solver that you may think you need to be, but you will still learn enough to understand the basics of electricity. Garcia's usage of Kudu was a bit frustrating (because Kudu sucks), but he promised that he will use the textbook the next time he teaches this course. His exams are very fair (he adjusted after the first midterm) and are actually medium-level difficulty if you study problems out of the textbook (ones he recommends and other extra ones). As far as helpfulness, Prof. Garcia is probably the best in that department. He is very easy to approach and answers questions very positively without any judgement. In other words, if you ask a stupid question, Garcia will still call it a "good question" and answer it without making you feel badly. His office hours are very helpful, as he goes over the problems students have difficulty with, and he is very supportive of setting up personal appointments if you need them. Overall, Prof. Garcia's class is a bit easier than other 1B classes, but I'm sure he will learn to toughen up in the future. I would definitely take another class with him if I can. Thank you for a great quarter, Prof. Garcia.

Garcia is a super nice guy and a good professor. He is pretty new to teaching a large lecture class though, and it shows in some of his choices. He used Kudu this quarter, which was ok, but not ideal. Kudu has basic online textbook sections and then about 10-15 problems each week, which varied wildly in difficulty; some of the questions were pretty impossible , and some were straight plugging in equations. His first midterm was terrible; it was way too hard, unlike any problems we'd seen before, and waay too long for the time we were given (5 full problems in 50 minutes, and it took 20 minutes to solve the first problem). I think he felt pretty bad about designing it so badly honestly. His next midterm was a LOT easier (I went from a score of 59 to 98) but it wasn't stupidly easy. The final was also pretty easy. He gives some extra credit (5% participation points from in-class questions). My final grade was an 88% but he curved up to an A, but that may have been just to correct from the first midterm. Overall, you will learn the material pretty well and have a nice time.

Garcia is a really nice, caring guy. He's very new to teaching as a professor here, and as his first section of physics ever, there were definitely some rough patches, but he wants the absolute best for his students. Because of this, much of what is talked about for Spring 2019 is likely subject to change should he teach the course in the future. Here's what I'll say:
-Garcia tries to solve problems during lectures, rather than just prove equations from the book. This is very good, except the problems he picks are straight out of what he asks us to do ahead of time in Kudu or don't always reflect the homework.
-Kudu overall was not a good experience, but I believe he is eliminating it in the future.
-There were a large number of mistakes made in lecture, which is understandable, but definitely made learning difficult. Many of his explanations seemed convoluted to me, so feel free to look at old high school physics notes/mastering physics!
-Garcia encourages participation through in-class questions on Kudu, which provided extra credit.
-Homework was light and very reasonable, and ungraded homework often shows up on exams, so definitely look for them.
-In my opinion, the class itself often got kind of dry and most of it felt like solving integrals for very select geometries to determine different things.
-Garcia is a super approachable guy who really wants students to succeed and seems to be always open to input!

Good guy and an okay professor. I think he's relatively new to teaching. Not always the clearest lecturer and has a tendency to fly through the concepts or problems. The material wasn't too complicated to self study, so his lecturing wasn't a problem in the end -- just keep up with the material. My grade suffered because I made this class my last priority and fell way behind before the second midterm.

He used an online textbook/homework system called Kudu this quarter, but he said that he wouldn't use it again in the future... it's a pretty bad textbook lmao. He mentioned that he'd just use University Physics in the future.

Tests weren't horrible, but since he just uses practice problems for most questions, partial credit comes from very specific parts of the answer, which is what got me in this class. I got hella points off on a problem because I didn't answer the way he did it in the practice, which is fair considering he gives us the solutions to all the practice problems. The grade distributions on the tests are very spread out, so the standard deviations are always large.

He gave 5% of extra credit for in class "clicker" questions. This was done through Kudu this quarter, so I'm not sure if/how he'll do it in the future.

Grades are determined from 11% homework, 6% pre-lecture questions, 21% each midterm, and 41% final. He grades on a curve, but he uses your raw score if it's higher than your curved score.

Honestly I'd take a class with Garcia again. He's only going to get better as a lecturer and cares a lot about teaching. You'll be fine if you study the practice problems and stay caught up on material.

Professor Garcia is a very very kind person and will always try to help you if you need it. He is very patient and understanding and wants his students to succeed. As long as you do and understand all the homework and ungraded problems, you will definitely pass or do better on his exams. Since it was his first time teaching, a couple of times he was unable to solve certain homework problems or would get stuck while solving them. His lectures are informative for sure, but it is difficult to pay attention as they are not very engaging.
Do take him though if you can! His physics class is personally easier than the classes of other physics 1b professors (imo), and he is a genuinely kind man, and very easy to approach.

Professor Garcia is a nice guy, but I didn't really like his teaching style. His lectures consisted of going over Kudu (the online textbook) almost verbatim, with very little explanation of the concepts or demonstrations. Although he offered in-class participation points (later turned into extra credit), the lectures were quite dull and I found it nearly impossible to pay attention. I decided to read through the Kudu myself and rely on practice problems and study groups to prepare for the exams.

The exams were completely fair, and in hindsight pretty straightforward. The first midterm was definitely the hardest, because it had a time crunch and had a few tricky parts. Garcia tried to compensate for the low average (53%) by making the second midterm and final easy, with all of the questions either simple or straight from the ungraded homework problems. In general, the exams were not as difficult as in a standard 1B class, but I felt it was still challenging to prepare for them because I could not rely on the lectures.

It's worth noting that this was Garcia's first time teaching 1B, so he will likely improve. At times, Garcia struggled to solve homework problems during office hours, but I expect that he will develop a much better grasp of the material over time.

In conclusion, I recommend taking another professor if you want to truly learn the material, or especially if you are an electrical engineering major. Otherwise, Garcia could be a good choice because the exams are predictable and you will still learn, albeit not on a deep level.

Decent professor, with easy tests (really does not want to fail students), but I felt like his explanations and lectures were not the most clear.
Class was taught with Kudu, homework and class participation quizzes.

Hector Garcia is a very nice professor, he's very forgiving and actually very kind. However, it is unfortunate that his lectures are not that clear or that useful. However, in exchange, his tests were very easy, and very doable. The first midterm had a few trick questions, but the 2nd and the final had very reasonable questions. He is good for an easy class, but you will not learn that much. Garcia often gave surface level explanations and often skipped or glanced over complicated topics like Forced or Damped Oscillations.

Garcia is a really nice guy but he's not that great at teaching. His lectures were a bit disorganized, and he didn't go too in depth. That being said, his tests are pretty easy as they are essentially straight up copied from the homework and ungraded homework. Workload was pretty light with a couple of homework questions and some pre-lecture questions per week. If you want to really learn physics, take another prof, but if you're looking to get an easy A, this class is great.

Good class, lectures were example heavy, so I found it essential to take notes on the textbook, tests were very straightforward, and Garcia had so many extra office hours to help us struggling folks out and provide more space to ask questions! I really appreciated the level of commitment and care he showed to his classes, as well as his willingness to go on some tangents in office hours.