I guess I was a little too excited after reading the other reviews for Arasaka's class. I expected the class to be a breeze and be similar in difficulty to Physics 6A with Schriver. Although Professor Arisaka has a great passion for the topic he teaches, he is not very clear in what he expects us to know for his exams. I had to read the textbook every now and then to grasp the concepts that I did not understand in class/ the ones that he never even reviewed in class. The practice exams that he offers students are very helpful when it comes to preparing for the midterms and final, but I had to teach myself the material. I would say about 80% of the material I learned came from reading the textbook and self-studying. Overall, Arisaka is a sweet, caring, passionate lecturer, but he was not a very effective teacher.

Arisaka is hilarious. He is so expressive and his lectures are super engaging. He has a pretty heavy accent but you WILL get used to it over time. I think that the reason he gets so many good reviews is more to do with the fact that all of his tests are incredibly similar to past years (which he gives you for practice) and not so much because he's an amazing lecturer. I had to spend a lot of time in TA OH's just to learn all of the material, but the fact that he basically told you what questions would be on the exam and gave you multiple practice exams made it so much more manageable than what I imagine other 6B classes would be like. So I would recommend taking him if he's teaching!

Arisaka is the MAN. Absolute best professor I've had at UCLA thus far. He cares so much about his students. He emails us after every lecture. He gets exams graded extremely fast. He puts his students as his priority. He is super funny and was literally like a father to me. His emails were hilarious. He'd tell us to make sure to go to bed by 11pm and get 8 hours of sleep before the exam. It was so cute! He's awesome. He's great. Arisaka is love. Arisaka is life.

GREAT PROFESSOR!

I have my past graded exams for sale! $10 for each exam. I received an A+ in the course. Email me at *************

Best professor I've had at UCLA. He makes physics interesting for life science majors, and his lectures are very engaging. He is very friendly and actually makes time to help out students out with office hours and many, many review sessions. He ACTUALLY TEACHES.
Plus, he doesn't teach by the book, so you don't have to worry about doing any problems in the textbook at all (I loved this), with the exception of MasteringPhysics hw. The only thing you need to do to prepare for his tests is knowing how to do the practice test packets he gives you.
He consistently gives over 30% A's, and his lectures are fun. He doesn't go too fast. His accent is strong but you get used to after about a week.

Waiting to take 6B with Arisaka was SO worth it.

Arisaka is by far the best physics professor in UCLA (I actually mean this). He explains concepts well and give you PLENTY of exercises and practice midterms to help you. He offers multiple review sessions before any test of final to make sure you really understand not only how to solve problems but understand the PHYSICS of it.

IF YOU WANT TO LEARN WHAT PHYSICS IS AND WANT TO GET AN A or A+..I suggest you take him. I have yet to take the final but I got a 94 and a 101 on both midterms and I expect I will do just as good on the final.

PLEASE TAKE HIM IF YOU CAN. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT AT ALL, I PROMISE YOU.

He is the best physics professor in UCLA. Very concerned about students and really enthusiastic. He made physics far more interesting!

A lot of these reviews are clearly out of date because even though Arisaka isn't an extremely difficult professor, he is by no means anything close to as easy as a professor with a 5.0+ rating should be.

Arisaka has gotten harder recently and openly admits it. He told the entire class that he purposely made our 1st Midterm the hardest one he's ever given to simply prove a point that you can't memorize equations and hope to do well. Like I said, he's not extremely difficult but people shouldn't expect him to be a cake walk like I did after reading all these outdated reviews of his class.

People say the accent is bad...and it is. He literally has one of the most god awful accents I've ever heard and it truly impedes understanding what he's saying, and his writing is horrible too so if you miss what he says then you're screwed. I would even see the typists for the hearing impaired students shoot Arisaka dirty looks for his accent so you know it's bad.

A lot of people say he's passionate but what is that really gonna do for you at the end of the day? I honestly got sick of his enthusiasm after he showed the same slideshow about his research 5 different times and said the exact same thing every time.

Anyways, enough negative things. He's a nice guy and he's very willing to help. He's had extra OH for people who didn't do well on the midterms because he claimed that he wanted to make sure we did well. He was also very structured and always told you what to study and what he was gonna lecture on, which was nice. His exams are extremely long though and take the entire time - know your shit or you won't finish. He sells a lecture supplement with his notes.

Long story short, take him if you want but don't expect to just sit there and get an A. Its still physics at UCLA and it's still gonna be challenging.

Here's an e-mail I sent to Dr. Arisaka after the class ended.

"I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all the work you've put into teaching this course, with all the review sessions, practice material, helpful and frequent advice, as well as your class presentations about the greater implications of physics concepts in research about the brain and the universe. I really could not have asked for more with all the genuine effort you put into teaching this course, as you went far beyond what most professors would even consider doing. Although my grade was a little lower than I had hoped, I think your grading system was quite generous and I have no complaints whatsoever. I really value the opportunity to be enrolled in your class this winter and feel that I came away with a lot of valuable lessons."

As for that grading scale, this past quarter:

9.2% A+
11.6% A
14.0% A-
12.1% B+
13.8% B
14.5% B-
--Over 75% of people got a B- or better. I honestly don't get how anyone could complain, even if they somehow got nothing from this class. I really don't.

I waited 2 extra quarters to enroll in his class and it's the best enrollment decision I've ever made. Thanks Dr. Arisaka.

I realized that physics is such an eloquent, even philisophical way to explain the universe and our place in it. I never allowed myself to see math or physics as anything other than a jumble of meaningless, pointless numbers that answered none of those important life questions. Professor Arisaka was able to change my point of view, not only through the course work, but through his passion for and belief in Physics.

He is an excellent teacher, but it is VERY important to read and take notes on the relevant book sections ahead of time or the lectures will not be helpful to you. The class notes are sold in the book store, but I never used them so I advise not buying them. The TAs are VERY helpful so always go to the discussion sections. When you are given practice exams, make sure to understand all of the problems, then change the problems a bit and do them again. For example, if the problem involves two springs and a block, change it to be two blocks and three springs. The tests may contain problems you have never seen before, but they are doable as long as you really understand the material and don't panic. I got an A- in the class and I really feel like I learned something valuable.

This class allowed me to see through the eyes of a physicist. I am so interested I will keep learning, on my own, about new discoveries in the field.