Apparently, my TA judged me on the extra stuff you put into your report, even though it's not part of the guidelines... so in all honesty, why bother having guidelines if you're looking for extra stuff? Seriously, some TAs are biased.

Class really does quick depend on who your TA is. Almost all of them don't speak English too well and generally won't help out too much on the labs. I went to mine every day before the assignment was due and got all P's with a P- and a 2 P+. The grading for this class is pretty hidden, but it's basically if you average a P, you'll get an A.

Definitely more than the 2 units worth of work. I got mostly Ps and some P+s on my labs without too much mental effort and still got an A+. This lab is much easier and more straightforward than 4BL.

I took Physics 4AL and I never seen Professor Slater. However, since he "teaches" 4AL, I'm going to comment and rate this class. Easy class, but WAY TOO MUCH BUSY WORK. The workload of this class more closely resembles a 4 or 5 unit class. Not that it's hard, but there's a lot of copying and pasting data and calculating errors redundantly. It's a useless requirement for engineers, but one word of advise for future students is just be prepared to spend 6-10 hours working on the post lab report EVERY week.

Since Professor Slater may as well be a cardboard cutout (it's a joke, sir, in case you're reading, I'm sorry!), I'll just rate the course.

Grading is very TA-dependent. Know what he/she wants, and pour your time into it. It'll take about half a day (12 hours) to do a report, extra credit included. Show all your work, learn to type fast and to type formulas and symbols on Microsoft Word. You'll end up printing a lot and stuff, so stock up on your paper supply.

Having past reports is a boon, it'll save you a lot of time. The lab manual gives a vague idea of what you're supposed to do. Read the lab guideline handouts, those are the ones that actually count.

Like everyone else said, he "teaches" 4AL but never shows up to a lab. In general 4AL is a really easy class, although it does require quite a bit of time. My TA was very helpful both during and after labs. She told us what to do, how to do it, and how she wanted the lab report. If you're lucky enough to have a TA like her it's pretty painless. Class is 7 labs over 8 periods, with 1 2 week lab, an intro during 1st week, and nothing during 10th week. Grades given on lab reports are P+, P, P- and NP, which are somehow translated into letter grades in the end. I put in my hours for each lab report (probably from 5-7 depending on the report), made them all look pretty with the graphs and tables, and got 7 P+'s. Despite it being another annoying engineering req, it wasn't too bad, especially compared to Chem 20L.

He doesn't actually teach the lab; each lab session is run by a TA. He did write the lab manual, however, and it was last updated in...1998.

The lab session itself is not too challenging if the TA gives clear instructions (mine didn't, unfortunately). Technically, it's not that hard to earn an A in the class. But the draw is that each week's lab will take around 6-10 hours to complete, usually near the higher end of the spectrum. The worst part is that most of the stuff done pertains to 4AL only; some of the formulas will never be used elsewhere. Therefore it's a near waste of time doing such trivial material.

The class is 2 units, but it deserves at least 3. Also, never take Physics 4AL and Chem 20L together; you will die.

I have never seen this teacher in my life. However, since he wrote the lab manual, the course can be evaluated. The difficulty of this class really depends on your TA. I had a great TA who graded fairly. Basically, if you receive all P's on your labs, you get an A in the class. I haven't seen anything lower than a P (P- or NP) and also got a P+. This course does not really help in the mastery of the concept, but more like testing if you know about it. I also got to learn how to use Excel better.
There are seven labs, one due every week. The sixth lab is a two week lab, so you have two weeks to make a lab. Its basically two-labs-in-one, that should be started early. Then again all of the labs should be started early, because they take awhile to make, especially if you want a P or better. On average, you will be able to finish your lab a little over an hour and leave early. Some take slightly longer. Labs 1 through 4 utilize concepts from mechanics, while 5-7 examine waves and stuff you learn in the first part of Physics 1B. If you put a decent amount of time into your labs, you will do great.

Wow... This class is a joke...
That is what you will say after you take this class...
By the way, I got an A+

Lemme quickly tell what I did and my grade for what I did:

I got an A-.

I had the 2 hour and 50 minute lab session on monday evenings. I do my lab saturday/sunday before, mostly on sunday, never taking the whole day. Unlike Chem 20L, I NEVER EVER READ WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO BEFORE LAB. I never butt-kissed the TA nor go to any office hours. Now saying that, I never BS’d my data and I took the report seriously, never half-assing it. I made it look beautiful with all the tables and what not.

Compared with Chem 20L: this class was relaxed...like dropping marbles and stuff whereas chem lab was like omgwtf…hurry rush ‘em…try this, try that…shit, change it up... nt gg... qq TT