Professor
Anna Simpson
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2023 - 5C is rumored to be the easiest in the 5 series, but I would repeat 5B five times before taking 5C again with Simpson. I want to like her and have nothing against her as a person, but it is clear with every passing day that she is not equipped to teach. She only uses the blackboard for lectures, which is fine, but she miswrites equations at least once in most lectures. She spends lecture sharing the philosophy/derivations behind certain concepts but never tells us how to apply them to problems, or even mentions which formulas to use half the time. I don't need to be spoon fed, but I have never felt so lost in a class until now and I have dealt with many other first-time professors and started in the Physics 1+Math 32 series. I have been teaching myself entirely out of the book for the first time in my life (which is a regular old physics textbook, not like a "for dummies" handbook) and learning the important equations from the directions/hints on the MasteringPhysics homework. The average on the first midterm was a 52, which is lower than any other class I've ever taken, and for reference I'm a godawful test taker but managed an A on my 5B midterms. She told us she hopes we do better next time (bruh), as if collectively failing was a reflection of us. She also said she would curve grades up to an average of 85 (!), which is more than generous, but then she decided after the first midterm that she will not adjust any raw scores until we have our final grades. She will not commit to a curving scheme until after we finish the class, so we really have no way to know how we are doing until it's too late. Again, she has her upsides. She is curving generously, releases (messy) practice midterms, does (unproductive) midterm review sessions, is dropping our lowest midterm, and she never seems unkind or unwilling to help. Also, all the TAs are helpful. I want her to improve and hope she does with time. But this quarter with her was a nightmare. Ok sorry for writing a whole dissertation. Just be careful yall. xoxo gossip girl
Fall 2023 - 5C is rumored to be the easiest in the 5 series, but I would repeat 5B five times before taking 5C again with Simpson. I want to like her and have nothing against her as a person, but it is clear with every passing day that she is not equipped to teach. She only uses the blackboard for lectures, which is fine, but she miswrites equations at least once in most lectures. She spends lecture sharing the philosophy/derivations behind certain concepts but never tells us how to apply them to problems, or even mentions which formulas to use half the time. I don't need to be spoon fed, but I have never felt so lost in a class until now and I have dealt with many other first-time professors and started in the Physics 1+Math 32 series. I have been teaching myself entirely out of the book for the first time in my life (which is a regular old physics textbook, not like a "for dummies" handbook) and learning the important equations from the directions/hints on the MasteringPhysics homework. The average on the first midterm was a 52, which is lower than any other class I've ever taken, and for reference I'm a godawful test taker but managed an A on my 5B midterms. She told us she hopes we do better next time (bruh), as if collectively failing was a reflection of us. She also said she would curve grades up to an average of 85 (!), which is more than generous, but then she decided after the first midterm that she will not adjust any raw scores until we have our final grades. She will not commit to a curving scheme until after we finish the class, so we really have no way to know how we are doing until it's too late. Again, she has her upsides. She is curving generously, releases (messy) practice midterms, does (unproductive) midterm review sessions, is dropping our lowest midterm, and she never seems unkind or unwilling to help. Also, all the TAs are helpful. I want her to improve and hope she does with time. But this quarter with her was a nightmare. Ok sorry for writing a whole dissertation. Just be careful yall. xoxo gossip girl
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