MIT Subject Evaluations

8.02: Physics II
Fall 1998 Summary

Lecturer: Professor Simon Mochrie
Recitation Instructor: Professor Min Chen
Recitation Instructor: Professor Boleslaw Wyslouch

Enrollment: 132
Number of students commenting: 32 

The subject content of 8.02 was mostly geared toward problem solving, with less emphasis on the theory or practical applications of the subject. Some asked for more discussion of the theory, but an equal number asked for even less theory and more discussion on the uses of the material. Most felt 8.02 was interesting and well organized, covering a vast amount of material in depth. However, a few students stated that there was too much much material to learn in one term, while others asked for more explanation on how the different parts of the course were related to each other and to everyday life.

Students beseeched, begged, and pleaded for their problem sets to be graded, and to count towards their final grade. A vast number, who all started their request with PLEASE in capital letters, felt that this would give students more incentive to work consistently on the subject, thereby making lecture less confusing. Respondents also requested that the instructors make clear what material is important and likely to appear on exams. A few felt that recitation and lecture needed to be better coordinated, since they frequently used different methods for solving similar problems. Two students suggested a course web page with copies of the lecture notes and problem sets posted. One class member stated that the course tutors were unreliable and frequently missed tutoring sessions. Another asked that tutoring hours be moved to the afternoon.

Overall, although a couple of respondents thoroughly despised 8.02, most felt that it was an average class, neither wonderfully good or horribly awful. While the teaching style was well below par and the ungraded homework annoying, there were very few complaints about the subject material, the course exams, or the experiments in lecture. 8.02 is not thrilling, but as one student noted, it "makes me look at everyday life differently."

The majority of 8.02 students were unimpressed with Professor Mochrie's lectures. Over half of the comments were critical of his teaching style and only 4 students applauded his skillful use of experiments in class. The overall negative feeling to Mochrie's teaching style can be summed up in one student's comments:

"I thought it was sad that the instructors didn't appear concerned when most of the class got [either] D's or A's on the second test. Aren't we here to learn something?" 

A few students felt that Mochrie was unorganized and unclear, delivering his lectures in a sleep-inducing monotone. Others were disappointed by the lack of time for questions in lecture. The most common complaint was that he did not understand how difficult the subject is for students who were seeing it for the first time. One student suggested that Mochrie needed more interaction with freshmen and non-physicists. Another suggested a slower lecture pace with more time for class discussion.

Very few comments were made about the Recitation Instructors Professor Chen and Professor Wyslouch. One respondent felt that Professor Chen was straight forward and good with questions, but two others felt he was unclear, spoke in a monotone and didn't ask for questions from the class often enough. While one student said Professor Chen should "Keep doing what you are doing!", another felt that he "should not be allowed near a classroom." A final class member reprimanded Chen for responding "It's intuitively obvious." to recitation questions.

Almost all of the responses on Professor Wyslouch were positive, with one student hailing him as "the best recitation instructor I had this term." A few students suggested that Professor Wyslouch needed to cover a wider range of subjects in recitation. One thought he tended to gloss over important details.