Professor
William Wright
Most Helpful Review
Professor Wright is a really good guy, like the previous poster wrote, he is in no way out to get you. That being said, if you don't do the work, you will struggle. The first midterm was fairly straightforward - if you had done the homework it was not difficult to do well. The second midterm was not impossible, but required a lot more thinking and "applying what we'd learned".. basically just doing the homework was not enough to do well on it, and the class average showed this (I think it was around a 55 or so). The final was quite long, but was pretty fair. The problems on it were similar to the midterms, with a few difficult sections thrown in. If you had done the homework and understood most of it (not just plugging and chugging), it was alright. The final curve was very nice, Wright really does his best to treat his students well and will give you the benefit of the doubt, even offering to drop your lower midterm. A few tips: -DO THE HOMEWORK! There really isn't too much of it, so try each problem. Also, make sure to look at the keys he later posts, they aren't just the book solutions and he sort of explains each step in them. -Going to class isn't always essential, but he's a good lecturer with a lot of energy. He also tends to do problems very similar to what will appear on the tests on the board. -Also, I highly suggest learning any new material you have recently covered just before a test. We didn't have any carnot engines, and only a fairly simple thermodynamics P/V chart on the second midterm, but these were a BIG part of the final.
Professor Wright is a really good guy, like the previous poster wrote, he is in no way out to get you. That being said, if you don't do the work, you will struggle. The first midterm was fairly straightforward - if you had done the homework it was not difficult to do well. The second midterm was not impossible, but required a lot more thinking and "applying what we'd learned".. basically just doing the homework was not enough to do well on it, and the class average showed this (I think it was around a 55 or so). The final was quite long, but was pretty fair. The problems on it were similar to the midterms, with a few difficult sections thrown in. If you had done the homework and understood most of it (not just plugging and chugging), it was alright. The final curve was very nice, Wright really does his best to treat his students well and will give you the benefit of the doubt, even offering to drop your lower midterm. A few tips: -DO THE HOMEWORK! There really isn't too much of it, so try each problem. Also, make sure to look at the keys he later posts, they aren't just the book solutions and he sort of explains each step in them. -Going to class isn't always essential, but he's a good lecturer with a lot of energy. He also tends to do problems very similar to what will appear on the tests on the board. -Also, I highly suggest learning any new material you have recently covered just before a test. We didn't have any carnot engines, and only a fairly simple thermodynamics P/V chart on the second midterm, but these were a BIG part of the final.