I'm sorry, but please don't believe everything you read on BruinWalk. I had the choice to either take this class or Chem14A as a pre-req for my major and decided to take physics since everyone ranted about how easy it was, despite me being a chemistry person and understanding that more easily. If I could, I would take it back. Kusenko is a terrible professor, I could barely understand him, and the lessons he taught in class were never connected to what we were tested on for the midterm or finals - the book also had nearly nothing to do with what the class was concerned with. The book was labeled 'Conceptual Physics', which it IS NOT. Although only 4 units, this was the most difficult class I have taken (even over several 6 unit courses) and I am not bad at math. His class was disorganized, the lectures never went over how to apply the equations to the type of questions he would even remotely ask on tests, nor was the weekly homework. The weekly homework was a breeze, sometimes requiring you to use two equations to get the answer. The midterms and finals? Sometimes up to five. DO NOT take this class if you dislike physics but are scared of 14A -- take 14A instead, you will not regret it whatsoever. Also, be warned that this class (at least mine was) was manipulated by a large group of physical science majors trying to boost their grade and GPA and to get more credits. They got PTE's and set the curve, putting everyone else in a terrible position who was new to physics. Don't believe it? Ask several of the kids who heard a group laughing about setting the curve for the 'idiots' after class. Maybe other quarters were a different climate from what I'm reading on BruinWalk, but this quarter was a joke to those who actually were trying to learn the basics of physics and didn't know it like the back of their hand already. A huge group of us studied for over 50 hours for this midterm and no one got a higher final grade than a B-. So, just beware. Check out who your classmates are on MyUCLA and see if they have their majors listed -- if it is inundated by physical science majors, drop it and wait for a quarter where you're competing with kids that are starting with a clean slate like yourself so you don't slam your GPA like some of us did.

I am a 100% Physics dummy but with Professor Kusenko, nothing is impossible. He is a really funny and passionate physics teacher and he knows the stuff well. He doesn't use powerpoints so you really have to listen to him in lecture - in which some of the stuff may appear on midterms and finals. However, I do feel that he's jumping around topics so I did get slightly confused at times. Needed to youtube quite a few videos in order to clarify the concepts.

The course is composed of two midterms and one final. The exams were so much easier than I thought! About 1/4 of the people got 90%+ in the exams so yea. Prof Kusenko tells you exactly what chapters each question in the final would be from which made our lives so much easier.

Overall, I'm really happy with this course although I hate physics (not so much now)!

I am totally not a physics person. I have dropped this class three times...because the other professors were so bad! He totally made me understand the concepts...and I got an A. I never thought I would ever do well in physics...but it is possible with him. Take his class!

This is a horrible horrible class. If you must take it, you have no choice and you will survive. If you have a choice do not take it. Kusenko is the worst teacher ever. The discrepancy between teaching conceptual things and testing on mechanics is so frustrating. I ended up doing poorly in his class even though I'm an As and Bs student simply because he threw curve-balls at us FOR THE FINAL. I hated physics before this class and I hate it afterwards too. If you're good at physics, you'll do well. Just because a person has credentials and is intelligent does not mean they can teach.

If you have any background in physics at all or even just math and problem solving, this class is a piece of cake. Kusenko is entertaining and the class basically consists of some cool experiments during lecture, and the midterm and final are based entirely off the homeworks. This makes going to class seem rather pointless because he doesn't test you on much anything he lectures about (the theoretical stuff). That said, definitely attend discussion section (although not mandatory) and know how to do all the homework problems. The curve was very generous in the end, also. I say take him!

I LOVED this class. I took this class as G.E. - Physics is a class I have always wanted to take (I never had the time in my schedule in high school), so I figured, hey, might as well give it a try with Physics 10. Sure, Kusenko isn't the best at explaining things (though come on, the guy worked at CERN - he is clearly to good to be teaching physics for psych majors anyways), but his passion for the subject is inspiring! Luckily, the T.A. explained everything really well (and we all had the same T.A.), so the fact that Kusenko himself wasn't the best at explaining was acceptable. He does a lot of interesting demos in class, tries his hardest to express upon us the joys of physics, and his tests really weren't that challenging. I would just re-do all the homework problems and the practice midterm in my studying, and ended up getting a pretty easy A in the class. If you have any interest in physics, I highly recommend you take this. I'm even thinking of trying my hand at Physics 1A next quarter.

Professor Kusenko is perhaps the most difficult Physics 10 professor you can take at UCLA. He usually teaches higher difficulty physics classes and therefore teaches his CONCEPTUAL physics class as if we're all well versed in physics already. This was particularly frustrating for me because I had NO background in physics going into this class and struggled because he insisted on making his tests completely math based and exceptionally tricky. My other big issue with him is that he spent every lecture showing us experiments, talking about his research, or going off on pointless tangents about a physics topic that was WAY beyond our understanding. Granted, lecture was generally amusing and fun because of the experiments but we were taught NOTHING and when it came to the midterms we were COMPLETELY lost. The TA is literally the only person who teaches you the equations and how to solve the problems, which isn't too helpful since you only meet with the TA once a week. Also, his practice midterms and final are an absolute joke when compared to the ACTUAL midterms and final. I have no idea why he does this, and he insists that they are no easier than the actual tests, but unfortunately for him his students are not that gullible. He is extremely unhelpful when you ask him questions and refuses to give any sort of extra help to students who are struggling. All in all, it really seems like he doesn't care.

Long story short: DO NOT take him unless you have an extensive background in physics already, because he makes this class much more difficult than he needs to.

This class was great. The book is basically a comic book on physics. Kusenko does all these experiments that try to prove a point. I would recommend going to class just to be entertained.

I liked how this class uses a lot of simple examples for its problems. This is effective because the concept is taught without any other complications like big or complex values for answers. You learn much if you aren't a science-oreiented person. Easy A, just practice doing the problems.

Alex is a wonderful professor!!!! He is thouroughly concerned about student learning and is always around for his office hours, though no one ever goes. He is more than clear in his explanations and his grading is more than fair. The people who think he's hard must either have a hard time showing up to class or are unable to ask questions of the professor. Alex is truly the best professor I have had at UCLA.

I was gonne give this class and the professor a horrible rating but i waited to get my grade just because that makes a difference in the difficulty rating of the course. I totally agree w. the person b4 me that this guy's difficulty rating should be much higher bcuz his tests are hard and he does not teach anything. ok so i failed both midters (each 20% of grade), the first one along with the rest of the class (average was 53%), i didn't do all of the hwk assignments (10% of grade) and i studied my ASS off for the final (50%) and did fairly well on that and got a B in the course...so as far as grading goes..i'd say he's lenient...it is very easy to get an A if u already have a solid knowledge of physics because he gives the top1/3 of class As, 2nd 1/3 Bs, and so on. but HE DOES NOT TEACH!!!! honestly, i was feeling so dumb until i studied with another friend who'd taken several physics courses and she was astonished at the notes he'dgiven us and gave me vital equations that HE'D LEFT OUT!! It's supposed to be a conceptual course, but he does not test on any concepts, it's all problems...I would recommend the class if ur willing to work hard and learn the material on your own bcuz his lectures are no help at all, oh and GO TO DISCUSSION...on the 2nd midterm there was a 50 POINT problem (on a test worth 150 points mind you) that was only covered in discussion (which i missed), also they go over the hwk b4 it's due so u don't have to do much work. Definitly memorize the formulas and know what sort of problems they're used for, that will help a lot. The only reason I halfheartedly recommend him is bcuz of his grading style, but u have to learn everything on your own. Great class if u already have knowledge of physics and need a ge.