easy class. i did so bad in 6a and 6b that i really dreaded taking the last class of the 6 series. contrary to my expectations, gourdain made the material VERY manageable. he tells you everything you need to know for the exams. he won't just give you the topic but he'll give you the exact type of problem on the test. for one of the midterms, he actually gave us the practice midterm with different numbers!! he's really entertaining and he really cares about his students. TAKE HIM!!

All I can is that this guy is awesome. He shows alot of concern for the students learning and gives an optional third midterm so that you can drop one. Also he personally hosted review sessions before the exams. You really have to pace yourself for the exams, since he only allowed 1 hour to take them. I thought the curve was very generous though.

He also has a good sense of humor, because thermodynamics can be really boring material. It's really too bad he does not teach alot of engineering classes. Also the TA was very helpful as well.

Professor Gourdain is definitely one of the best professors at UCLA. He is very helpful not only during office hours but also via e-mail questions. He really wants his students to understand the material well and succeed in the class. I thought that perhaps the class had a bit too much homework but it was good preparation for the exams. He is also very lenient in terms of grading because he allows you to take an optional midterm before the final exam so that if you did bad on a previous one, you can replace it. He also has a sense of humor, which is a plus for such a serious and competitive foundation class for mechanical /aerospace engineers.

Great professor, made the class extremely bearable. He has definately got to be the most helpful professor I've ever had, he really looks out for his students and genuinely wants them to excell. If you at least put some effort towards the class, getting at least a B shouldnt be difficult. Take this guy, you'd be glad you did !!! ps (listen to the way he pronounces AREA with his french accent, oh, it cracks me up !!!)

best professor ive ever taken at UCLA. he knows exactly what students want to hear and doesnt try to trick you in any way.

In short, he makes physics a bearable experience. Which is saying a lot especially since 6b is the hardest of all the series.

I have already recommended him to all my friends who plan to take the series.

Prof. Gourdain is AWESOME. Very clear, concise, funny, and seems to really care about student learning. I really struggled through 6A and 6B (physics is my worst subject), but his 6C class was practically a breeze. He only lectures on what is important (even if he does mention something that we don't need to know, he tells us that we don't need to know it). He tells us exactly what he will put on the exams--a question-by-question breakdown--and you get a full 8x10 help-sheet to take into the exams. He also offers 3 midterm exams (third one is optional) and then applies the best 2 scores towards your grade...talk about generous! The students in my class really seemed to enjoy him; we laughed almost everyday. If you can, TAKE HIM!

Gourdain was the best professor I have had at UCLA in my two years here. He is really concerned for student learning and would go out of his way to hold office hours right before exams to answer any last minute questions. He is so entertaining and I loved him! Totally recommended for students who can take one of his classes.

Professor Gourdain gets 5 stars from me. I had him last winter for 6B. You cannot fall asleep in his class, I mean this guy will keep you in your feet and you will feel that you actually learned something at the end of the lecture; he is very enthusiastic about what he is teaching and it rubs off on you, he jokes around a lot as well which makes the class fun but at the same time it remains very informative. He teaches you what is in the book (he goes through the chapter\355s sections) but it does not feel that he is re-reading the book for you (a lot of professors do that); he gives you his own explanation in class which is good because if you pay attention and then go read the book at home you will understand the stuff really well.
His practice tests are very important make sure you go through them and understand them. And if you do not he will be more than willing to meet with you, he is a really nice guy and very approachable.
Homework is very important as well; if you do all the homework and the practice tests you should get good grades easily. Oh, and he is not anal about turning the homework exactly on time if you need a couple extra days to finish it you can and he will not penalize you.
Some say that he is a bit hard (compared to Bretello) which is true but if you are planning on taking the M CATS I think you will learn more physics and will be prepared better if you take him.

Professor Gourdain was probably the most caring professors I've had in two years at UCLA, and its all the more noteworthy since he's a south campus professor. It was refreshing to have a science professor who genuinely cared about the students' learning experience. He was extremely encouraging in office hours and in class as well. He even held a calculus review on his own time outside of class at the beginning of the quarter. In class he was a bit difficult to follow partly because of his French accent, but after a few weeks you get used to it and learn that the guy has a great sense of humor. After finishing every chapter he gives everyone a sheet with all the important formulas and concepts on it, and you can use this as well as the Synthesis which has EVERYTHING you need to know about 6B on it during the tests. His midterms were short and during the reviews if you pestered him enough he was nice enough to tell the students pretty much everything that would be on the test. His curves were ridiculous (in the good way) with a majority of the class getting A-, A, and A+. He also did pretty cool demos in class, and I heard from friends that the other 6B professor did not. Pierre even had his own Physics website and cared about the class enough to write blogs about the class along with his plasma physics research. Overall, 6B itself is a challenging course for Life Science majors, but Pierre made it as interesting as possible. I recommend him to anyone taking 6B in the future. Great guy, great sense of humor, caring professor, easy tests. What more could you ask for?