COURSE EVALUATION REPORT
SC
LAWRENCE WEINSTEIN
200410
1 UNACCEPTABLE
2 POOR
3 ACCEPTABLE
4 GOOD
5 VERY GOOD
6 EXCELLENT
NR NO RESPONSE
10124 PHYS 101N
QUESTIONS FOR EVALUATION:
RESPONSE FREQUENCY

1

23456NRnMEANINSTR MEANSTD. DEV.DEPT MEANCOLL MEAN
1RATE THE OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INSTRUCTOR2281324180674.634.630.874.324.57
2RATE THE INSTRUCTOR'S ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE IDEAS EFFECTIVELY2391228130674.494.490.914.194.51
3RATE INSTRUCTOR'S CONSISTENCY/PUNTUALITY MEETING CLASS & USING ALLOTED TIME003420400675.455.450.525.055.15
4RATE INSTRUCTOR'S HELPFULNESS/SENSITIVITY/RESPONSIVENESS TO ALL STUDENTS NEEDS0361517260674.854.850.754.574.73
5RATE THE OVERALL QUALITY OF THE COURSE2261723161664.594.590.844.344.55
6RATE HOW MUCH YOU HAVE LEARNED OR BENEFITED FROM THIS COURSE3681816160674.284.280.844.194.43
7RATE THIS COURSE IN ORGANIZATION, STRUCTURE, AND CLARITY OF REQUIREMENTS2441127190674.704.700.774.454.66
GENERAL INFORMATION:
APPROXIMATE CLASS STANDING

PRESENT GPA

HRS PER WEEK SPENT PREPARING FOR CLASS

FRESHMAN21LESS THAN 2.0020 TO 210
SOPHOMORE182.00 TO 2.4953 TO 530
JUNIOR162.50 TO 2.99176 TO 819
SENIOR123.00 TO 3.49189 TO 115
GRADUATE03.50 +1012 OR MORE2
OTHER0DO NOT KNOW15

SEX

AGE

FULL OR PART TIME STUDENT

MALE2820 & UNDER39FULL-TIME65
FEMALE3821 - 2521PART-TIME2
26 +7

REASON FOR TAKING COURSE

EXPECTED COURSE GRADEEMPLOYED WHILE TAKING COURSE

REQUIRED FOR MAJOR33A10NOT EMPLOYED30
GEN. ED. REQUIREMENT29B28PART-TIME JOB32
ELECTIVE2C22FULL-TIME JOB5
OTHER3D4
F2
P0
Q1
NR :No response. Student did not rate the instructor on this question.
n :Number of responses for this question (does not include “no response”.)
Mean:The mean for this call number/CRN. In the case of aggregate reports, the mean for all session cross-listed together for this course.
Instr Mean:The mean for all courses taught by this instructor for a college. This number is the same on all reports for this instructor for a college.
Std. Deviation:The standard deviation for instructors means in this department.
Dept Mean:The mean for all courses taught by this department, including any course cross-listed to a course taught by this department. This number is the same on all reports for this department.
Coll Mean:The mean for all courses taught by this college, including any course cross-listed to a course taught by this college. This number is the same on all reports for this college.
ENROLLMENT: Total number of students enrolled for this call number/CRN. In the case of aggregate reports, the total number of students enrolled for all call numbers cross-listed together with at least one completed evaluation.


COMMENTS:

The number one requirement for this class was to be on time. Professor Weinstein is always on time and as a result he definitely expects all his students to be on time. This is understandable since the entrances to the classroom are in the front of the room. Many mornings he has been very unkind to the students who intrude upon his lecture. If you are on time, his lectures are straightforward and pleasant. He is constantly asking if there are any questions. Although, if you ask a stupid question, (yes, I do believe there are stupid questions) Professor Weinstein will make an interesting expression and give an amusing answer. His use of the PRS clickers clearly shows him if the students understand the concepts and it also shows students that they are usually not alone is the sea of physics confusion. The assigned homework is usually difficult, but it definitely helps with the understanding of the concepts. Since the homework grade can substantially hurt or help a students overall grade, grading the homework helps to motivate the students to actually study physics outside of the classroom. The exams have been fairly difficult, but since crib sheets allowed you only have to understand the concepts and not memorize all the formulas. Another help on the exams has been access to old exams and their answers. Because of homework, classroom demonstrations and review of the old exams very little of the exams was anything “new”. It may have been presented differently, but the concept is always the same. The laws of physics don’t change. (At least not at the physics 101 level.) I thoroughly enjoyed the course and Professor Weinstein. My only complaint would be that the doors should have been put in the back of the classroom.
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WOW, where to start? Well when I signed up for this classes I knew it would be hard, but I have to take it because I am an IDS K-6 major. I took the class with a student that I have known since my 1st semester at ODU. We work well together and live close. So I feel I went into the class preparing myself to work hard. The first day of class I knew I was in for the long hull. Dr. Weinstein talks so fast and required a course pack that no one knew about until the 1st day of class. So the 1st day was shot. I got the course pack, before Wednesday, hoping it would help me keep up. Ok, so I got used to him talking fast, but he also talks above our heads. THIS IS PHYSICS 101. I believe the information should have been broken down into smaller pieces. I have never had physics before and I am lost. I went to see him a few time, but you have to have questions. When you are as lost as I am, you dont even know which questions to ask. Improvements,where to start? 1st, slow down and allow the students to take in what was said. Dr. Weinstien spouts out and equation that are like 4 lines long as fast as I process 2+2=4. Physics is not that simple for all. 2nd, prepare us for the real version of the test. I just got out of a test and it was nothing like he prepared us for. Where was the torque=lever arm X force??? 3rd, relate the lecture to the homework more. The homework reminds me of a 5th grade ideal with grad. level grading. There is a tone of information, find a way to pull out the most important. Overall, I HATE THIS CLASS. I put a ton of effort in, and I feel like I am taking NOTHING away from it.
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This course is required for elementary education, however it is not geared toward elementary majors at all, I have not been able to relate this course to my other elementary ed classes at all and I have found it to irrelevant to what I plan to do in my professional life as a teacher. I think the university could create a physics class for elementary majors and we could get a lot more out of it.
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PROFESSOR WEINSTEIN REALLY MAKES YOU THINK. hE NOT ONLY HELPS WITH THE ANWSER BUT HE GOES INTO DETAILS AND ASKS US WHY, WHICH HELPS ME UNDERSTAND MORE
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there were technical problems throughout the course when it comes to using the clicker. the lecture moves way too fast. I think it would be better if he slowed down a little bit.
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The course requirements, objectives, assignments, schedules and homework were easily accessable. Dr. Weinstein was available for questions, concerns and feedback. I'm a little concerned about the TA's that were grading the homework and tests though. Just about every week I had to go to Dr. Weinstein and have my homework and or test grades changed because of errors in grading. I felt that this was an unnecessary burden on both myslef and Dr. Weinstein.
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Talks very fast and if you dont have prior knowledge of physics, then you are screwed. Test are very hard for a 101 level class.
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The homework aspect of this course was completely unacceptable. I've actually done a decent job on the homework but that's only because I'm fairly comfortable with this subject. However, this was a 101 course and the homework grader was looking for 400 or 500 level answers. EVERY student I've spoken with has the same oppinion. Apparently, many students who went to his office got points added to their homework grade because of this matter but that has since stopped and adjustmants were only given to those who went to the office, no announcement was ever made that adjustments may have needed to have been made to homework. I felt this aspect of the course was not of any benefit to the student learning the material because they were being penalized for having the right idea but not wording it correctly. I feel as if there should be some form of compensation as far as grades are concerned for this poor part of the class; it was clearly unfair. My feelings about the lab portion of this class influence the need for grade adjustmant due to the fact that the lab did not follow lecture AT ALL. Our lab was consistently two to three weeks behind what we were learning in lecture!!!! The whole purpose of lab is to further explain and show examples of what is being learned in lecture but this couldn't be further away from the way it actually is!! Please address this matter if not for this semester for the semesters to come.
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Dr. Weinstein is a great professor. He is very enthusiastic about physics which made it fun. However, I did find a few problems in this course. One is that the tests were a bit too long. I had to frantically finish a few problems in the last 2 minutes of class, and I know a lot of my peers did as well. Another problem I encountered was using the new PRS clicker system. Many of those questions were much harder than what we had been taught, and if we got them wrong, we were penalized by a few points on our attendance grade. We also did not have enough time to put these questions in our notes because we went through them pretty quickly in class.
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Dr. Weinstein is a great professor and he is very effective in teaching us the principles of physics. His classroom demostrations are always very interesting, and helpful.
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Professor Weinstein took a difficult subject and made it easier.
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This course seemed extermely difficult for a 100 level class. It should not have been this difficult at all. Test were TOO HARD and TOO LONG. We were expect to know a lot and to do too many problems in a short amount of time. I felt that the grading on the homework and on the test was unfair and this class does not appropriate for elementary school teachers, seeing as how this is a requirement.
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To me physics has nothing to do with common sense, and it is therefore necessary to retrain your thinking to think 'outside the box' - which we are expected to do on the homework and exams. However, the demonstrations used in lecture are straight from the text, and does not prepare us for HW and exams. I think it would be more helpful to use examples that are not found in the text so that we have another perspective to draw from. Also, maybe have the students more involved in demonstrations. Professor Weinstein is great, he tries to make himself available, he is understanding and very fair. The fact that he is in the learning lab on Friday's has been a tremendous help as the HW is due then and this gives us an opportunity to go over any questions we may have with him! Ideally, if the lab actually coincided or preceded(by no more than two weeks) the lecture material this could be most helpful! Understandably, that is a lot easier said than done.
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I liked the experiments done in class. They were very helpful in understanding certain concepts. Hopefully some more realllly interesting experiments can be performed. I liked the fact that there was extra credit offered. I did not like having only the class period (50 minutes) to complete the tests. The tests are pretty hard. Overall, he is a good instructor. He uses the class time wisely and will help you if you need it.
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I really enjoyed this class with this instructure.
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Sometimes when trying to communicate the ideas or concepts it is hard to follow and understand what is being said. Also sometimes explanations really aren't explanations, they are just what the professor has said is different words. The speed of the class is extremely fast, so fast to the point that it is hard to grasp the concept before moving onto the next concept.
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This course has a lot of information covered in a very short time period. If the labs were taught parallel to the lectures, it would be less confusing and much easier to reiterate each objective. This course was very difficult and challenging and designed to make you really think about physics.
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Mr. Weinstein had many visual ades, I thought that helped out a lot with the understanding of different concepts. He probably needs to work his speech, sometimes his "ands" and "ums" were overwhelming. But other than that this course was fun and enjoyable.
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The classroom was dirty and unsanitary until Thanksgiving break when it was cleaned for the first time all semester. The lab wasn't useful. It didn't match up with the cirriculum and served no purpose.
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The class was easy but it requires students to sit down and think. Homework was the hardest part of the class because the questions were more in depth than those in class
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Class was good, however instructor was rude to late students. Anyone who was as much as two minutes late for class was called out in front of 150 plus peers and told to "set their alarms earlier." I thought this behavior was innappropriate for several reasons. Mainly that sometimes traffic can make students a couple minutes late, regardless of what time the student woke up and left their house that morning. I know that myself and other students didn't even bother going to class on days where they felt traffic had made us a few minutes late because of not wanting to be embarrassed by the instructor in front of the entire class. This is especially crucial in this class because attendance was graded. Parking situations at school can also make students late even when they arrived at campus on time. Modification of the instrucor's tactics need to be made. I understand that being punctual is important, but this behavior was unnecessary, especially when students are late due to no fault of their own.
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Awesome teacher. Love his demonstrstions. I'm not a morning person but I love his class and that makes the morning ok. He is a great teacher and would recomend himto anyone
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The class helps to explain things that can not be justified by common sense alone. Professor Weinstein takes a lot of time to help students and there is no reason that anyone with half a brain should get less than a B. If anyone does, it is his or her own fault, not Weinstein's.
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The classroom is always having technical difficulties. Mr. Weistein is a great teacher. He helps us understand the material through our notes. The homework is the hardest part of the course but he drops the lowest homework grade to help us have a greater grade. He offers extra credit if needed. He is a hard teacher but you will learn the material.
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I hate physics, but I loved this class. Professor Weinstein is so helpful and so approachable. He is always willing to meet with you if you have questions about homework or tests. He always has great demos to help us visualize physics in the classroom, and you can tell he loves what he does. I learned so much in this class.
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Dr.Weinstein did a wonderful job communicating his knowledge of physics. The Demos in class were effective and entertaining. Homework was challenging at times but helpful when preparing for an exam. Dr.Weinstein was approachable and understanding. Overall, this course was helpful and interesting.
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This was a great class. I had lots of fun and learned a lot. Can't wait for next semester. It wasn't an easy class, i really had to work at it, but it helped me learned better.
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Weinsteins the man
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I think the lab should be consistant with the class so that more student would understand the concepts being taught.
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In class demos and the use of the clicker system greatly enhanced the class. It made it interesting and fun, class participation in this class was enjoyable!
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Dr. Weinstein is a good professor, but the material we are expected to learn in this class is really just too much. This class alone should be more than three credits for the amount of material we have to learn in a short amount of time. Dr. Weinstein enjoys physics and enjoys teaching the class but there should be less material for a 100 level course.
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Prof. Weinstein is awesome! His ability to relate physics to real life is unbelieveable. The course is hard, but his notes and demonstrations make it easier. The tests are long and difficult, but if you do well on the homework they will be a breeze. Pay attention to the mini-quizes in class because the explanations can be the same for the homework and on the test. I look forward to learning even more in Physics 102!!!
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professor weinstein is one of the best professors i've ever had...he keeps the class interesting with his sense of humor and numerous class presentations.
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i did not appreciate the student teaching aspect of this course. I am 46 years of age and completely in a differently peer group and leaving my assignments lying around carelessly, and having to defer to their interpretation of them really disappointed me, not to mention having to try to communicate with them....the gap was to wide and i gave up on trying. having been out of school for so long did not help me either. I will try again, but with deep regret.
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Dr. Weinstein teaches the course as if everyone is a scientist. The examples and explanations he gives in class are not the same as the ones expected on the homework and test. He counts the homework more than the lab which is unfair because you do more work in the lab and it is a class that you have to pay for and if you fail that you fail the whole course. I am also displeased with the way the homework is graded, he needs to talk to his graders and check over their work because they often make mistakes and their grading is inconsestent. He is not a good teacher for this entry level course. You should a least have another teacher teaching this course so he can have someone to compare to and students can have a choice. All those experiments do not make up for the fact that he still has trouble breaking down the principles of physics for entry level students. He is a bad physics 101-102 teacher he would be better in a higher level course. Please get rid of him or at least hire another professor for this course so he can have some help and us students paying all this money can have a choice. If everyone is not getting a least a c in the course than that means the lesson is not getting taught. I feel it is counter productive to have a course so hard that the majority really does not learn from it. I hope this will be his last year teaching this course.
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ENROLLMENT:105
TOTAL RESPONSES:67