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Mona Jarrahi
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Based on 18 Users
This class picks up where ECE 101A left off. Professor posted prerecorded lectures every week, leaving lecture time for questions. I studied primarily out of the textbook and didn't need to seriously review the lectures except for one specific topic (using transmission line model to calculate coating dimensions). Homework consisted of textbook problems, mostly fine but it's easy to overlook something and get dinged a few points. Exams were proctored on Zoom, you were allowed 1 side of 1 sheet of paper for the formula sheet on the midterm and 2 sides of 1 sheet of paper on the final. I thought the exams were alright. Most of the problems were computational but you needed to know the ideas behind the formulas to choose the appropriate one for the situation.
Midterm average was around 60% and the final average was around 80%. Professor didn't say if she was going to curve or not, but I'm pretty sure she either did curve or adjusted the grade brackets, so I wouldn't panic if the raw scores don't look good.
Overall I think this is a good core course if you were fine with ECE 101A and want to learn more about plane wave transmission, waveguides, and basic antennas.
Jarrahi was ok. My biggest issue with the class was that the tests had questions that were unclear. Even though I understood the course material, I lost a lot of points because of strange wording leading to unnecessary confusion. The homework was usually really straightforward to understand, so the tests came as a bit of a surprise. The questions weren't that difficult in terms of the math, but some of them tripped me up because they weren't clear. This was especially true of the midterm. It was frustrating that I had received 0 points on some parts because I couldn't recognize what a given value was or how to connect the question to the theory.
Once I saw the solutions manual, I was frustrated because I had studied so hard and had a strong grasp on the material, but in the moment of the test, a small lapse of focus led to a significantly worse grade. I understand that this is partly my fault and that some people in the course had recognized what to do in this problem, but whether or not I had understood the question was irrelevant to whether or not I understood the material. It was unfair that this small mistake reflected so heavily in my grade.
To people considering taking this course, I would still recommend it. The homework is easy and the professor is a pretty good lecturer. This course made much more sense to me than ECE 101A did. The class experience is fine throughout the quarter. The tests decide the grade in the class, so make sure to focus hard on those. You are allowed a cheat sheet. My advice is to spend a lot of time on the cheat sheet. It is the best thing you can do to prepare.
Professor Jarrahi is a very knowledgeable professor, but most of this class is straight out of the textbook. This is good because all of the homeworks are from the textbook, but it can be pretty dry sometimes. Professor Jarrahi is clear in her examples and derivations, and goes over practice problems before the midterm and final, so definitely show up to class on those days. The midterm and final are also pretty reasonable. It's an interesting class if you like electromagnetics.
Easiest engineering class I've ever taken! I honestly felt like she gave out 50% A+, A & A-
Her homeworks were straight from the book, but the exams are nothing like the homework problems. She spends 1 lecture before the mid term to go over problems that are very similar to the exam questions. If you can understand those, you're golden!
Pros:
clear lectures
straightforward exams
fantastic curve
you're more likely to get an A than to get eaten by a shark
Cons:
sometimes messy equations on board
if you want to learn deeper into this subject, this class isn't for you unless you go to office hours
The class is basically going through all the concepts and example problems that are SUPER helpful. Those problems most probably come out in the homework. If you go to her class, you will think that it is a little bit boring since she derives the whole thing. BUT, it is fun since you got to know where does the formula comes from and how to use it properly(especially the questions in this course look similar). Other than that, she is very lenient with grading. Make sure you did not leave UNITS in both exam and homework since they will deduct your point for leaving those precious alphabets. TA review session is the-must-go session. Believe me you would not want to miss that session.
The lectures are so boring no one pays attention. The derivations are a mess and she never says the final answer of what we did. She also just starts writing all over the place then erasing. The messiness makes it hard to follow. Just use the textbook. First class I had to read the textbook to understand. Exams were bs though. Midterm was 2 questions. First one had 13 parts to it and they all built off each other. Final was more straightforward but was mostly derivations and no actual solving of problems. Glad it’s over.
Professor Jarrahi is very good at communicating and ensures that people truly understand the material. Additionally, whenever someone asks questions about practical applications of subject material, she makes sure to expand on that topic, making the lectures even more engaging and interesting. Overall I don't think the professor does anything bad and would say that the way she teaches this class is fine as is.
I'll just dive into the realities of my experience with my class.
* Tests often parallel old exam questions. If they're not old questions, they'll test the same concepts. In preparation for the exam, pay attention to discussion questions and study old exams.
* Homeworks are just from the textbooks, and solutions can be easily found from online resources. Most people will get high marks on this. Homework is busy work and is often not in line exactly with lecture material. Don't bother studying for exams with HW.
* Lectures are very, very dry. Prof. spends time going through all math. Yes, all the algebra. Yes, every little step. Very hard to pay attention. Not engaging in lectures. Tests will not require in-depth derivation knowledge.
tldr; Jarrahi isn't a terrible professor. Class is dry. Having an amazing TA like we did helps.
Professor Jarrahi is a very nice professor her lecture is very engaging , she lectures straight from the book so you do not have to worry about taking a note, home works are from the book so doing it help to understand the concept, when comes to exam, her exams are supper fair if you attend class and go to discussion you definitely get a good grade.
The course material only consisted of three chapters. The midterm and final were computational problems rather than deriving proofs. Homework was basically straight from the textbook. For this quarter, all the lectures were pre-recorded for understandable reasons, but that made it harder, at least for me, to stay on top of things. So while the final and midterm both tested reasonable and expected concepts , I didn't study enough to do well on the exams.
This class picks up where ECE 101A left off. Professor posted prerecorded lectures every week, leaving lecture time for questions. I studied primarily out of the textbook and didn't need to seriously review the lectures except for one specific topic (using transmission line model to calculate coating dimensions). Homework consisted of textbook problems, mostly fine but it's easy to overlook something and get dinged a few points. Exams were proctored on Zoom, you were allowed 1 side of 1 sheet of paper for the formula sheet on the midterm and 2 sides of 1 sheet of paper on the final. I thought the exams were alright. Most of the problems were computational but you needed to know the ideas behind the formulas to choose the appropriate one for the situation.
Midterm average was around 60% and the final average was around 80%. Professor didn't say if she was going to curve or not, but I'm pretty sure she either did curve or adjusted the grade brackets, so I wouldn't panic if the raw scores don't look good.
Overall I think this is a good core course if you were fine with ECE 101A and want to learn more about plane wave transmission, waveguides, and basic antennas.
Jarrahi was ok. My biggest issue with the class was that the tests had questions that were unclear. Even though I understood the course material, I lost a lot of points because of strange wording leading to unnecessary confusion. The homework was usually really straightforward to understand, so the tests came as a bit of a surprise. The questions weren't that difficult in terms of the math, but some of them tripped me up because they weren't clear. This was especially true of the midterm. It was frustrating that I had received 0 points on some parts because I couldn't recognize what a given value was or how to connect the question to the theory.
Once I saw the solutions manual, I was frustrated because I had studied so hard and had a strong grasp on the material, but in the moment of the test, a small lapse of focus led to a significantly worse grade. I understand that this is partly my fault and that some people in the course had recognized what to do in this problem, but whether or not I had understood the question was irrelevant to whether or not I understood the material. It was unfair that this small mistake reflected so heavily in my grade.
To people considering taking this course, I would still recommend it. The homework is easy and the professor is a pretty good lecturer. This course made much more sense to me than ECE 101A did. The class experience is fine throughout the quarter. The tests decide the grade in the class, so make sure to focus hard on those. You are allowed a cheat sheet. My advice is to spend a lot of time on the cheat sheet. It is the best thing you can do to prepare.
Professor Jarrahi is a very knowledgeable professor, but most of this class is straight out of the textbook. This is good because all of the homeworks are from the textbook, but it can be pretty dry sometimes. Professor Jarrahi is clear in her examples and derivations, and goes over practice problems before the midterm and final, so definitely show up to class on those days. The midterm and final are also pretty reasonable. It's an interesting class if you like electromagnetics.
Easiest engineering class I've ever taken! I honestly felt like she gave out 50% A+, A & A-
Her homeworks were straight from the book, but the exams are nothing like the homework problems. She spends 1 lecture before the mid term to go over problems that are very similar to the exam questions. If you can understand those, you're golden!
Pros:
clear lectures
straightforward exams
fantastic curve
you're more likely to get an A than to get eaten by a shark
Cons:
sometimes messy equations on board
if you want to learn deeper into this subject, this class isn't for you unless you go to office hours
The class is basically going through all the concepts and example problems that are SUPER helpful. Those problems most probably come out in the homework. If you go to her class, you will think that it is a little bit boring since she derives the whole thing. BUT, it is fun since you got to know where does the formula comes from and how to use it properly(especially the questions in this course look similar). Other than that, she is very lenient with grading. Make sure you did not leave UNITS in both exam and homework since they will deduct your point for leaving those precious alphabets. TA review session is the-must-go session. Believe me you would not want to miss that session.
The lectures are so boring no one pays attention. The derivations are a mess and she never says the final answer of what we did. She also just starts writing all over the place then erasing. The messiness makes it hard to follow. Just use the textbook. First class I had to read the textbook to understand. Exams were bs though. Midterm was 2 questions. First one had 13 parts to it and they all built off each other. Final was more straightforward but was mostly derivations and no actual solving of problems. Glad it’s over.
Professor Jarrahi is very good at communicating and ensures that people truly understand the material. Additionally, whenever someone asks questions about practical applications of subject material, she makes sure to expand on that topic, making the lectures even more engaging and interesting. Overall I don't think the professor does anything bad and would say that the way she teaches this class is fine as is.
I'll just dive into the realities of my experience with my class.
* Tests often parallel old exam questions. If they're not old questions, they'll test the same concepts. In preparation for the exam, pay attention to discussion questions and study old exams.
* Homeworks are just from the textbooks, and solutions can be easily found from online resources. Most people will get high marks on this. Homework is busy work and is often not in line exactly with lecture material. Don't bother studying for exams with HW.
* Lectures are very, very dry. Prof. spends time going through all math. Yes, all the algebra. Yes, every little step. Very hard to pay attention. Not engaging in lectures. Tests will not require in-depth derivation knowledge.
tldr; Jarrahi isn't a terrible professor. Class is dry. Having an amazing TA like we did helps.
Professor Jarrahi is a very nice professor her lecture is very engaging , she lectures straight from the book so you do not have to worry about taking a note, home works are from the book so doing it help to understand the concept, when comes to exam, her exams are supper fair if you attend class and go to discussion you definitely get a good grade.
The course material only consisted of three chapters. The midterm and final were computational problems rather than deriving proofs. Homework was basically straight from the textbook. For this quarter, all the lectures were pre-recorded for understandable reasons, but that made it harder, at least for me, to stay on top of things. So while the final and midterm both tested reasonable and expected concepts , I didn't study enough to do well on the exams.