MIT Subject Evaluations

8.01: Physics 1
Fall 1998 Summary

Lecturer: Professor Alan Guth
Recitation Instructor: Professor Bernard Burke
Recitation Instructor: Professor Wit Busza
Recitation Instructor: Professor Paul Joss
Recitation Instructor: Professor Ali Javan
Recitation Instructor: Professor George Koster
Recitation Instructor: Professor Uwe-Jens Wiese
Recitation Instructor: Kristin Burgess
Recitation Instructor: Peter Falus
Recitation Instructor: Noah Graham
Recitation Instructor: Tamas Hauer
Recitation Instructor: Emanuel Katz
Recitation Instructor: Karl Millar
Recitation Instructor: Shufang Su
Other Instructor: Isaac Chappell
Other Instructor: Young Lee
Other Instructor: Michael Ohliger
Other Instructor: Mark Pecaut
Other Instructor: Alexander Seidel
Other Instructor: Brice Smith
Other Instructor: Ian Zacharia

Enrollment: 486
Number of students commenting: 106

8.01, Physics I, is an introductory mechanics course; an extremely common way for students to satisfy the first half of the physics requirement. The class is a combination of lecture, smaller recitations and even smaller mandatory tutorials. Some instructors on whom we received no comments are listed above, but do not have a section further in the review; tutors are listed above as "Other Instructors.

Overall, students seemed to enjoy the course - at least about as much as one can enjoy a required course. While they were pleased with the teaching and content, there were a few minor changes that they suggested, which are described throughout the review.

Most class members liked the content of the course. Six commented that it was interesting; two found it boring. While seven found it tricky, two found it easy. A few commented that the class was both in-depth enough and broad enough, a few others liked the continuity. While some class members thought the class was well-organized and paced, others found it to be too fast. Some students liked the additional time spent on rotation. The text was not popular among class members; students did not find it helpful, and thought that since it was seldom used, it shouldn't be mandatory.

The strongest piece of feedback received was in regard to the problem sets; many class members wanted them to become mandatory. A few others did not want to see problem sets right before exams. Some students wanted consistency and English fluency in recitation instructors, and more connectivity between lectures and recitation instructors. Class members were concerned about the failure rate; they felt too many people failed exams and, possibly, the class. While a few did not like the tutorials being mandatory, a few others commented that they were cool. Also, Walter Lewin's television help was seen as quite useful.

Overall, students seemed to be reasonably satisfied with most aspects of the course. Everyone at MIT, no matter their major, has to take a mechanics course; class members saw this as a not-terribly-painful method of fulfilling this requirement.

Professor Alan Guth, the lecturer, received mostly praise from his students. Class members raved about the demonstrations done in class, finding them fun and informative. Students felt that he was an enthusiastic and excellent speaker with well paced lectures. He was also seen as knowledgeable, organized, well-prepared, and students appreciated his board technique and the effort which he put into the class. Many class members, however, felt that he spent too much time on derivations and not enough time showing examples. In addition, some commented that his class followed the study guide closely and a few found his lectures boring. A few others thought he spent too much tine going over the last lecture at the beginning of each day and wanted him to be more encouraging to questions.

Professor Bernard Burke was seen as very knowledgeable, but lacking the ability to convey this knowledge to his class. Class members wanted to see him listen to students and answer the questions asked, not his interpretation of them or the questions that interested him. Others did not find him particularly helpful or available.

Most recitation members liked Professor Wit Busza, finding him engaging. They felt that he gave good problems, and used fundamentals, that students knew, to answer questions. One class member appreciated the choice he gave to his recitation, but thought maybe he should prepare a backup plan. While one felt that he answered questions to the point of irrelevancy, another commented that he was excellent, and a third wanted to see him teach more.

Students found Professor Ali Javan hard to understand and not terribly effective at solving problems. Another class member wanted to see more problems done in his recitation.

Professor Peter Joss was seen as good by one of his students; however, some others commented on his ability to make mistakes and did not like the way he answered questions. They felt that he became confused in recitation, as well.

Professor George Koster was seen as an excellent recitation instructor by his students. He was described as knowledgeable and helpful in and out of class: One recitation member wanted to see him review key lecture points and do study guide problems.

Kristin Burgess received very few comments. One student felt she was not as good, but she tried hard; another wanted a more interactive recitation with more problems done in class.

While one student felt Peter Falus did give some good advice on how to attack problems, most found him less useful. Individual students commented that his recitation was not well planned, not particularly helpful, and that they had trouble understanding his English. One wanted to see more than a question and answer session.

Only one student commented on Noah Graham; he was described as good and patient.

One student found Tamas Hauer hard to understand because of his speech patterns; the only other commentator found him a great teacher, but thought that he went off on tangents.

Karl Millar was described as a nice guy, but not a great teacher. One class member thought he engaged the class well, another commented that his writing was too small, and some said he could not answer his own quiz questions.

While one person found Shufang Su very effective, another described her recitation as a "waste of time". Two commented that her quizzes did not resemble the problem sets or review quizzes, two others thought that she was not understandable, while another commented on her strong accent.

Isaac Chappell's tutorial members appreciated having him to ask questions of. They found him really helpful and learned a lot when he made them do the problems. One class member wanted him to make people go to the board more often and have students work together on problems.

Young Lee also received good reviews from his students. They found him knowledgeable, thought that he explained well and commented that he was brief and to the point in answering questions.

Tutor Mark Ohliger received rave reviews from his students. Two described him as helpful, and others commented that he was good, engaging, and conducted his tutorial well. One commented that his tutorial was the best taught portion of the course.

Tutor Mark Pecaut was seen as excellent and very effective. One liked his knowledge and outside availability, another found him knowledgeable and felt that he conveyed enthusiasm.

Alexander Seidel was seen by one tutorial member as being more helpful than recitation while another thought that it was not as helpful as recitation. A third student thought he explained fairly well, and another commented, "Excellent. I'll be looking for him next semester."

Ian Zacharia received brief yet exemplary reviews from his students. Two described him as excellent, another found him extremely helpful, and a fourth commented that he did a good job.  

A few representative quotes from class members:

"I found my tutorials to be much more helpful than my recitation, even though it met for less often. The lectures are good, though."

"I found the approach to the subject a bit too conceptual. Too much emphasis on proof and derivation, especially during lecture."

"Walter Lewin is bully!"

"Pass me!"