PHYSICS 5C
Physics for Life Sciences Majors: Electricity, Magnetism, and Modern Physics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; laboratory, two hours. Requisite: course 5A. Electrostatics in vacuum and in water. Electricity, circuits, magnetism, quantum, atomic and nuclear physics, radioactivity, with applications to biological and biochemical systems. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - I have never felt compelled to write a review for a professor until now. I feel like my frustrations with this instructor have been difficult to put into words and feel upset thinking back on this experience. Overall, I do not believe Corbin belongs in the 5 series and if you have the option, I would take a different professor. If you are seeing my review and then grade and thinking, "What is he talking about he got an A", or "It can't be that bad", yes it was. I have never put this much effort or time into a class before. Corbin aims for 30% averages on his exams and told us he grades based on what he thinks you should get. If you're well above the average that's an A and if you're around it, B or C. He expects us to know a level of math we have never seen before and acts like it is not a big deal. I feel like he does not respect us and makes the class much more difficult than it needs to be. If you are not comfortable with calculus you will struggle in Corbin's Class. Even though the 5 series is a non-calculus based class, he seems to ignore this in his teaching as well as make references to physics 5B, which is not a prerequisite for 5C. I have never personally witnessed a teacher create an environment where students do not feel comfortable seeking help inside the classroom until this course. He refuses to repeat himself in class, even after students have asked him to do so because they couldn't understand what he just said, but refuses to post lecture slides or record lectures in any format. This means if you miss class, good luck! I have had fellow students refrain from asking questions because they are scared he will make fun of them with his answer. This is not out of a fear for public speaking but because we have witnessed him do it to the students brave enough to ask a question anyways. I think one of my biggest frustrations is that the homework and book have nothing to do with his exams. He himself said that he hadn't even looked at the book or homework. You might as well not read it anyway because his tests are based purely off his lecture slides. He does not give or allow formula sheets but tells us not to memorize equations because we should know how to use them and derive them instead. This combination makes studying for exams confusing and stressful. Let me tell you, you will have to extensively study and memorize for this teachers course. I feel like Corbin is a qualified individual, but does not know how to share his knowledge in the best capacity to students in the 5 series. He constantly makes references to the 1 series which I think he would rather be teaching. I have had students with other teachers in the 5 series tell me that they have never seen anything like what we have done with Corbin and it is frustrating to see how different our classes have been. There were open spots in Corbin's lecture for Fall 2024, and I know people who did not join because they did not want to take it with Corbin, even though 5C was a prerequisite for their next quarter. I believe this is telling. The instructors teaching 5C next quarter were released and Corbin's name was originally listed, however it was later replaced with "The Staff". Please note he is still teaching next quarter. If a department has to remove a teacher's name from the course list in order to increase enrollment in the class, I do not believe they should be teaching the class. Please take Corbin out of the 5 series.
Fall 2024 - I have never felt compelled to write a review for a professor until now. I feel like my frustrations with this instructor have been difficult to put into words and feel upset thinking back on this experience. Overall, I do not believe Corbin belongs in the 5 series and if you have the option, I would take a different professor. If you are seeing my review and then grade and thinking, "What is he talking about he got an A", or "It can't be that bad", yes it was. I have never put this much effort or time into a class before. Corbin aims for 30% averages on his exams and told us he grades based on what he thinks you should get. If you're well above the average that's an A and if you're around it, B or C. He expects us to know a level of math we have never seen before and acts like it is not a big deal. I feel like he does not respect us and makes the class much more difficult than it needs to be. If you are not comfortable with calculus you will struggle in Corbin's Class. Even though the 5 series is a non-calculus based class, he seems to ignore this in his teaching as well as make references to physics 5B, which is not a prerequisite for 5C. I have never personally witnessed a teacher create an environment where students do not feel comfortable seeking help inside the classroom until this course. He refuses to repeat himself in class, even after students have asked him to do so because they couldn't understand what he just said, but refuses to post lecture slides or record lectures in any format. This means if you miss class, good luck! I have had fellow students refrain from asking questions because they are scared he will make fun of them with his answer. This is not out of a fear for public speaking but because we have witnessed him do it to the students brave enough to ask a question anyways. I think one of my biggest frustrations is that the homework and book have nothing to do with his exams. He himself said that he hadn't even looked at the book or homework. You might as well not read it anyway because his tests are based purely off his lecture slides. He does not give or allow formula sheets but tells us not to memorize equations because we should know how to use them and derive them instead. This combination makes studying for exams confusing and stressful. Let me tell you, you will have to extensively study and memorize for this teachers course. I feel like Corbin is a qualified individual, but does not know how to share his knowledge in the best capacity to students in the 5 series. He constantly makes references to the 1 series which I think he would rather be teaching. I have had students with other teachers in the 5 series tell me that they have never seen anything like what we have done with Corbin and it is frustrating to see how different our classes have been. There were open spots in Corbin's lecture for Fall 2024, and I know people who did not join because they did not want to take it with Corbin, even though 5C was a prerequisite for their next quarter. I believe this is telling. The instructors teaching 5C next quarter were released and Corbin's name was originally listed, however it was later replaced with "The Staff". Please note he is still teaching next quarter. If a department has to remove a teacher's name from the course list in order to increase enrollment in the class, I do not believe they should be teaching the class. Please take Corbin out of the 5 series.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - I took this class during the corona quarter as well so please keep that in mind. Here's a breakdown of the class: 10% HW 15% Lab 20% MT1 20% MT2 35% Final Jiang's lectures were pretty dry (perhaps because I wasn't that interested in the material), but I think he explains things pretty well. He recorded his zoom lectures so I ended up watching them on CCLE at a faster speed. He kind of has an accent if that bothers any of you at all, but it didn't make that much of a difference for me. He did open note midterms on MasteringPhysics with 4 multi-part questions. Each part had 3 tries and if you did the homework he assigned and maybe the problems at the end of each chapter, you were pretty much set to get a 100. The homework he assigned each week was usually 7 or 8 mastering problems which were pretty easy if you a) went to lecture or b) read the book. I personally didn't take the final because of everything that happened at the end of this quarter, and he was kind enough to let us take an optional final. I looked at the final and it wasn't too bad as long as you paid attention in class and did the practice final he sent , but I was thoroughly checked out by the end of spring so it looked hard to me. Anyway, Jiang is a really sweet professor
Spring 2020 - I took this class during the corona quarter as well so please keep that in mind. Here's a breakdown of the class: 10% HW 15% Lab 20% MT1 20% MT2 35% Final Jiang's lectures were pretty dry (perhaps because I wasn't that interested in the material), but I think he explains things pretty well. He recorded his zoom lectures so I ended up watching them on CCLE at a faster speed. He kind of has an accent if that bothers any of you at all, but it didn't make that much of a difference for me. He did open note midterms on MasteringPhysics with 4 multi-part questions. Each part had 3 tries and if you did the homework he assigned and maybe the problems at the end of each chapter, you were pretty much set to get a 100. The homework he assigned each week was usually 7 or 8 mastering problems which were pretty easy if you a) went to lecture or b) read the book. I personally didn't take the final because of everything that happened at the end of this quarter, and he was kind enough to let us take an optional final. I looked at the final and it wasn't too bad as long as you paid attention in class and did the practice final he sent , but I was thoroughly checked out by the end of spring so it looked hard to me. Anyway, Jiang is a really sweet professor
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Most Helpful Review
Summer 2020 - Class Structure was very VERY kind: - 40% problem sets (no Mastering Physics) - 15% lab - 10% discussion participation - 10% midterm 1 - 10% midterm 2 - 15% final I liked this class. Professor Mills was extremely accommodating and poured so many hours into this class: 2 hours of office hours 2-3 times a week, attending every discussion, staying after class to answer questions. There was always support offered and available to students, and Professor Mills was very receptive to feedback. She offered us revisions after every major exam (final included), and had a huge emphasis on the teaching/learning aspect of the course: in her eyes, as long as the resources and opportunities she offered were contributing to our improved physics understanding, she would continue to make them available to us. There were some organizational issues with the class, but that can be attributed to the fact that this was Professor Mills' first time teaching Physics 5C. With that came the responsibility of creating completely new course materials (problem sets and exams) as we went along in the quarter, and in my opinion, she executed fairly well and always ensured the situation was fair to students. Now that these materials have been created, I imagine that future iterations of the course will be even more successful. I do recommend Professor Mills for Physics 5C!
Summer 2020 - Class Structure was very VERY kind: - 40% problem sets (no Mastering Physics) - 15% lab - 10% discussion participation - 10% midterm 1 - 10% midterm 2 - 15% final I liked this class. Professor Mills was extremely accommodating and poured so many hours into this class: 2 hours of office hours 2-3 times a week, attending every discussion, staying after class to answer questions. There was always support offered and available to students, and Professor Mills was very receptive to feedback. She offered us revisions after every major exam (final included), and had a huge emphasis on the teaching/learning aspect of the course: in her eyes, as long as the resources and opportunities she offered were contributing to our improved physics understanding, she would continue to make them available to us. There were some organizational issues with the class, but that can be attributed to the fact that this was Professor Mills' first time teaching Physics 5C. With that came the responsibility of creating completely new course materials (problem sets and exams) as we went along in the quarter, and in my opinion, she executed fairly well and always ensured the situation was fair to students. Now that these materials have been created, I imagine that future iterations of the course will be even more successful. I do recommend Professor Mills for Physics 5C!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - I decided to take this class after taking 5B with Professor Niemann and having a good experience. I thought his lectures were easy to follow and loved his in-class demos. While the exams were challenging I thought the practice problems/practice exams we were provided with gave me a good understanding of what to expect. Some questions on exams were the exact same as questions given on practice exams. Before exams I would review homework sets, work through all practice exam material, and go over lecture content/lecture problems. Rewatching lectures was also very helpful to me. Overall, this is a challenging course, but with enough practice and truly understanding the concepts you can definitely get an A!
Spring 2025 - I decided to take this class after taking 5B with Professor Niemann and having a good experience. I thought his lectures were easy to follow and loved his in-class demos. While the exams were challenging I thought the practice problems/practice exams we were provided with gave me a good understanding of what to expect. Some questions on exams were the exact same as questions given on practice exams. Before exams I would review homework sets, work through all practice exam material, and go over lecture content/lecture problems. Rewatching lectures was also very helpful to me. Overall, this is a challenging course, but with enough practice and truly understanding the concepts you can definitely get an A!
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