Professor
Andrew Stewart
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - Do not take this class if you want an easy grade! The class is very difficult and the instructor barely goes over the material on the homework and tests. You will be able to do well on the quizzes based on the lecture, but not the homework or exams. I was wondering how other students were doing so well on their homeworks. It turns out that they went to the TA office hours and the TAs gave them the answer. The instructor will deny that this happens but it does. If you can find a friend who has already taken this class, ask that friend for the quiz answers as the instructor uses the same quiz questions each year. The homeworks are dumb and frustrating. You will learn basic calculations in class such as 100 megawatts + 200 megawatts=300 megawatts. Then you will get a verbose homework problem where you need to combine three different equations on the lecture slides and manage to get an answer. The instructor has a way of making his tests and homework hard! In the first year he taught this class, the midterm scores were so horrible that according to the TA, almost everyone failed. In the second year, there was a really difficult homework question that students struggled on for hours so that question was removed in the third year this instructor taught the class. You will be competing against other AOS majors who have taken other AOS classes before, so they have a large advantage over you. The instructor is young and he appears to be friendly. However, he does not know how to instruct a class or come up with fair homework problems and exams. Another problematic homework problem you will have is the dreaded Matlab assignment where you will have to learn to code with Matlab to finish the assignment. You will get the codes in discussion section, but they will be missing information that you have to fill in. If you don't have experience coding Matlab, then this class is not for you.
Winter 2016 - Do not take this class if you want an easy grade! The class is very difficult and the instructor barely goes over the material on the homework and tests. You will be able to do well on the quizzes based on the lecture, but not the homework or exams. I was wondering how other students were doing so well on their homeworks. It turns out that they went to the TA office hours and the TAs gave them the answer. The instructor will deny that this happens but it does. If you can find a friend who has already taken this class, ask that friend for the quiz answers as the instructor uses the same quiz questions each year. The homeworks are dumb and frustrating. You will learn basic calculations in class such as 100 megawatts + 200 megawatts=300 megawatts. Then you will get a verbose homework problem where you need to combine three different equations on the lecture slides and manage to get an answer. The instructor has a way of making his tests and homework hard! In the first year he taught this class, the midterm scores were so horrible that according to the TA, almost everyone failed. In the second year, there was a really difficult homework question that students struggled on for hours so that question was removed in the third year this instructor taught the class. You will be competing against other AOS majors who have taken other AOS classes before, so they have a large advantage over you. The instructor is young and he appears to be friendly. However, he does not know how to instruct a class or come up with fair homework problems and exams. Another problematic homework problem you will have is the dreaded Matlab assignment where you will have to learn to code with Matlab to finish the assignment. You will get the codes in discussion section, but they will be missing information that you have to fill in. If you don't have experience coding Matlab, then this class is not for you.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - This class was actually fun and pretty interesting. Firstly, there are guest lectures almost every week talking about different topics of California's Oceans. Not only are you getting an introduction to different fields, but you are exposed to various professors talking about their research (if you were interested in getting into that). As someone who has no experience in coding, MATLAB was not very fun in learning. MAKE FRIENDS in the class who have some experience in coding to help you out if you don't have any coding experience. While the professor does provide a crash course into the language, I can genuinely say I was confused for half of the time there, but HE IS REALLY NICE. Super understanding, willing to spend time working through problems, and just talk about life when he has the time. He is a professor that actually cares about his students. The final is a group presentation and a paper about analyzing a certain aspect of California's Oceans (using your coding skills you learned in class) which was not too bad. Find good group mates, pick a topic early, and get the analysis done asap since the paper creeps up faster than you think. Would definitely recommend!
Spring 2025 - This class was actually fun and pretty interesting. Firstly, there are guest lectures almost every week talking about different topics of California's Oceans. Not only are you getting an introduction to different fields, but you are exposed to various professors talking about their research (if you were interested in getting into that). As someone who has no experience in coding, MATLAB was not very fun in learning. MAKE FRIENDS in the class who have some experience in coding to help you out if you don't have any coding experience. While the professor does provide a crash course into the language, I can genuinely say I was confused for half of the time there, but HE IS REALLY NICE. Super understanding, willing to spend time working through problems, and just talk about life when he has the time. He is a professor that actually cares about his students. The final is a group presentation and a paper about analyzing a certain aspect of California's Oceans (using your coding skills you learned in class) which was not too bad. Find good group mates, pick a topic early, and get the analysis done asap since the paper creeps up faster than you think. Would definitely recommend!
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