The tests are way harder than anything taught in class or given in homework. The class is very disorganized, and the site we used to complete assignments, Kudu, constantly had technical difficulties. The assignments we had to do covered things beyond what was in the lecture yet still didn't prepare us for the tests. She races through the actual content and spends the majority of lectures on Kudu.

Gelmini is not a good lecturer. This class is unnecessarily difficult for what is supposed to be an introduction to physics. Lectures are long and unengaging as she just reads off her notes which are very disorganized and hard to follow. The difficulty gap between homework and tests is laughable, tests are way too hard. She also uses Kudu which is a pain to use. Often the software fails to record answers and scores quizzes incorrectly. Physics is a hard class, but Professor Gelmini makes it especially difficult.

Nothing I can say that people haven't already. Hard to understand in class, has kinda confusing notes, doesn't really know how to use the Kudu platform, and the questions she posts don't match the tests in difficulty. I think she's a sweet person, but the way she teaches makes it unnecessarily harder to understand the content. I thought the mandatory participation was nice just because it keeps you from blowing off what is otherwise a decently hard class, but if you take this class with her just know you're going to be sinking a lot of additional time outside of class trying to teach yourself the content.

Professor Gelmini is a terrible lecturer. She just reads off of her notes for the whole two hours of class and it seems like a waste of time to go since it takes less time if I just read them. She uses a website called kudu for homework assignments which is also extremely disorganized and due dates are never clear and/or change frequently. Don't even get me started on the tests. I did 60 pages worth of practice problems and spent on average 6 hours a day studying (so much that I had to sacrifice time for my other classes) and I still did awful on both midterms. The problems are extremely difficult (more than anything on the homework or in discussion) and the amount of time allotted is not enough to do them. 10/10 would not recommend.

Professor Gelmini is kind of like the Professor Kavner (chem) of physics: incredibly kind person, but has a teaching style that lacks clarity. I'm not naturally gifted in physics, but I've never felt this confused (took some physics in high school). It genuinely felt like I was unlearning the material I had learned in high school at some points. Her grading style is also pretty difficult to deal with, since she has incredibly hard tests that she then curves, but that doesn't let you know at all if you're doing well in her class or not.
One great thing about the class is that she posts notes, and she posts them in advance to the lectures, but they are pretty difficult to understand. The fact that she requires participation is also really annoying since you don't come out of the lectures feeling like it was a good use of your time.
If you're good at physics, you'll probably do well, but unfortunately that probably isn't thanks to her lectures, but rather your own work. Would not recommend.

Dr Gelmini is friendly, but her tests leave me in tears for how confusing it is, especially the finals (and I mean unbelievably confusing). Her grading is very lenient however. Make sure you participate so she can remember you (it helps when she determines whether to give you a B or B+ for example if your grade is in the borderline like my case)

Even though I did okay in this class I wouldn't really recommend anyone to take it. It's unnecessarily hard, the homework is a huge pain, and her lectures are a drag because she's quite hard to understand (at least for me). If you have any doubts about your Physics Mechanics knowledge then I'd say take it with someone else.

If you're already enrolled in this class, you will still be able to succeed, it'll just take some effort. Go to discussion, go to office hours, do a TON of practice problems, and make sure to ask your TA for clarification on anything you find confusing. I'd say the most efficient way to learn is write down any problems you struggle with, and bring them to your TA's office hours every week. Since physics problems often have multiple ways to solve them, it is super helpful to have your TA show you the "best" ways to solve certain problems, rather than figure it out on your own. Good luck.

Physics 1A is supposed to be an introductory class to mechanics, but that sure isn't what this class felt like. Thank goodness I had taken AP Physics in high school or I wouldn't have been able to survive. Professor Gelmini reads off her sheet of notes during lecture, but it isn't the best. If you've never seen physics before, good luck because this class will be hard. Homework is done through Mastering Physics, and she does not grade for completion. You'll also get deducted points every time you make a mistake, so make sure you're using the right symbols. Seriously. Professor Gelmini was always helpful during office hours and was always willing to answer questions during the break (it was a two hour lecture). Go to discussion because those questions are similar to the midterms, and DO the practice midterms because that's as close to the actual midterm as you're gonna get. If something is confusing on the exam, raise your hand immediately. Her exams are a time crunch and sometimes they are hard to understand, so ASK. Also she likes to use a lot of math and ugly trig in her exams, so try to remember your verticle angles and all that good stuff. And if you're seeing mechanics for the first time, PLEASE watch youtube videos or whatever you can find. Also, go to your TA's office hours, or the other TAs. Professor Gelmini can help with homework problems, but if you want a good explanation, I would say go to the TAs.

I actually liked Gelmini a lot. She taught in a way that was easy to read her notes and follow along. She also had a lot of fun demonstrations that kept the lecture awake (it was an 8am). Her teaching wasn't bad and I think a lot of the issues people had were with the material itself which isn't her fault. Physics is hard and of course, people who've taken physics in high school will have a leg up on everyone else. But, she explained things well and did example problems in class. She does use Mastering Physics which can be annoying because for each problem you miss, you lose partial credit, but it's not hard to find answers online if you're stuck. Also, her tests are very similar to the Mastering Physics so if you take the homework seriously, you won't have a problem. TLDR, Gelmini is a good professor, it's just the subject material can be challenging. Just do the homework and the class will be easy enough.

I took this class my second quarter here along with Math 32B, Chem 20B, and Chem 20L. This class by far was my hardest. Thankfully I took AP Physics in high school, which meant all the material and concepts were the same, but this class was still very hard and took everything we learned in high school physics to another level. As others have said, I wouldn't recommend taking this class w/Gelmini if you haven't taken AP Physics before. The homework was pretty frustrating for me, not only because it felt so annoying to get these problems incorrect when I felt I 100% knew them, but also because it was through Mastering Physics which is a God-forsaken awful online software that makes you pay ~$70 for a program that doesn't function on an acceptable level for any class whatsoever. The exams would be do-able if given 1.5x the amount of time. All the problems felt solvable, or sometimes had a trick to them that needed time to be seen, but you're only given 50 minutes so many people had trouble even getting to the last multi-step problem. The final was actually fine for me, I studied pretty hard for it, but I made a lot of dumb mistakes that if I had caught I might've been able to get an A with. This class is made pretty challenging by Gelmini, as you have to be able to really understand the concepts behind physics, but also be able to solve problems well and solve them quickly. I'm overall pretty happy with an A-, I thought I might've gotten a B in the class. Oh also, the midterms will make you feel like complete shit, and you might even get a panic attack but don't worry too much since basically everyone will feel the same way (the worst part is that these were all at 8 am, and you had to go back to lecture for another hour right after you just got mindf*cked).