MIT Subject Evaluations

8.03: Physics III
Fall 1998 Summary

Lecturer: Professor Victoria Kaspi
Recitation Instructor: Professor Toyoichi Tanaka

Enrollment: 77
Number of students commenting: 45

8.03, Physics III, is a course required for physics majors, as well as by some other departments. Because of this, a variety of people with many different academic backgrounds take this class, which covers the basics of mechanical vibrations and waves and optics. This is the review for Fall 1998.

Class members did provide some feedback for the instructors. Some felt the test was too long, and had too many problems. A few commented on slow return of graded material and some complained that copying of the problem sets was rampant. The problem sets themselves were seen as long and painful. Some students felt that the entire class went too quickly; others felt it went from too slow to too fast. Nearly all appreciated the availability of online grades.

Overall, most students seemed to enjoy the course, or be at peace with the fact that they had to take it to graduate. The lecturer and recitation instructor were especially appreciated this term as were the demonstrations. While not everyone liked the content, the class was evenly split about how to change it.

Professor Victoria Kaspi, the Fall 1998 lecturer for this course, received mostly positive reviews from her students. Many liked her as a lecturer and her demonstrations were appreciated by all. A few specifically mentioned the diffraction grating as being cool. Students found her approachable pleasant, and liked her availability at office hours. A few, however, commented that her lecturing was a bit "green" and that it would improve over time. A few other students felt that her lectures were too simplistic, and followed the text too closely.

The majority of the students commented on recitation instructor Professor Toyoichi Tanaka. Nearly all were impressed with his complex diagrams, and most found him enthusiastic and friendly. The students who commented were almost evenly divided on whether his recitations were helpful or unhelpful, and a few students felt that more practice problems in recitation would be helpful.

Many class members found the content interesting. Others liked the first two-thirds of the course, but thought the part on interference and diffraction was not as well done. Nearly all wanted to see the Bekefi and Barrett textbook replaced; opinions were divided on French. The class was also divided about the balance between application and theory. Many class members wanted more physical examples, and a decent amount felt that there was too much engineering. Two people commented that the material could seem a bit unconnected.

These quotes are from student forms, summarizing some points about the course:

"Really good job! I'm thoroughly psyched about physics now."

"Calculated a 7/23 probability that Professor Kaspi would fatally injure herself or a class member in a demo at the beginning of term."

"Try to stimulate more interest in the class by more applications in research."

"OK, I wish there was a bit more emphasis on theory and less on application."

"What's odd about this course is that there are two groups of students - the ones who are near-perfect and those who aren't. Unfortunately, the law of averages helps the former immensely... I'm Course 12. I have to take this. God, I hope I pass."