Cagliyan Kurdak - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Professor: Cagliyan Kurdak

Department: Physics

College: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS106
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Kurdak's Physics class was very fun! It was an everyday physics class so we did labs every day. No text book, 4 homework assignments all semester, a midterm, and a final. I completely bombed the final because it had nothing to do with anything we learned all semester but other than that, great class and great prof

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS160
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I love him! His high pitched voiced and mannerisms are funny. I took him for "everyday physics", so he didn't expect you to know much, but I feel like you still had to know physics concepts to get through. It wasn't easy, but pretty manageable. The concepts were cool if you like physics, i dislike physics so blah.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Worst Professor I have ever had. Attendance was required and I hated every moment I spent in that classroom.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Kurdak is a nice person. He's always willing to answer questions after class and really has fun with the topics. He believes in teaching what we will remember since he wants you to use what you've been taught. This makes exams a little bit harder, since exams are more theoretical and Professor Kurdak likes a practical view of physics.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I felt extremely betrayed after every one of his exams. He would teach the bare minimum, assign the easiest homework, tell the class that certain concepts are completely useless then expect complete mastery of everything he told you not to learn. He has no idea what will be on the exam since his colleague writes them so expect to feel unprepared.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Kurdak was a great lecturer. People say that his tests were "impossible", but most things seem impossible when you do not try. Like many other profs at Michigan, Kurdak liked focusing on concepts. Just read the book.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Tests are insane. He talked about metaphors that didn't help students understand the materials. There were times where he simple said "I don't know why you learn this". It would've been easier to just read the book. Mastering Physics problems became ridiculous at one point due to lack of useful lecture time. He might be smart but he cant teach

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Terrible class. Tests are impossible. Kurdak certainly doesn't help at all

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYSI340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is the best lecturer who i have ever seen.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHY240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Hilarious Lecturer. Has extremely large pitch range with voice and likes to talk about Blue's Clues to explain concepts. Slightly crazy but has cool demos. Homework was annoying (online) but easy. Tests were not as bad as everyone made them out to be although sometime the average was a bit low (60's)

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYSI340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very energetic and definitely understands the material. At times, he's a little confusing but that's why this course has a textbook! He teaches completely from the textbook. If possible, read ALL the chapters and you will do great on exams. Make sure you understand the homework. Study hard because he likes to ask conceptual questions on exams.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYSI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Although his exams were difficult to ace, his final curve was extremely generous. I was dreading the subject before the class, but I actually came to enjoy it while taking the class. Kurdak is a good professor. The most unpleasant part of the class was mastering physics homework.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYSI340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Most definitely the worst professor I have ever had. Yes he is a nice man, Yes he is around to talk to you about problems you have. Down side, he writes his tests without reading the book, the class requires calc 3, and he requires partial diff eq on the tests, to smart for the students good. Explains things by saying, you just look at it and yo

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYSI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I jump up and down...I'm a light bulb! This guy was amazing. Yes, the exams were killer, but if you actually studied and understood the conceptual ideas, the class was very easy and useful. Most people think they can just write as many equations as possible onto their exam notecard and still understand them. Analogies make the lecture exciting.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYSI340
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Hard to understand in lecture, but very helpful if you can stand his accent.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This class was absolutely fantastic! Kurdak is a kind of professor who was extremely focused on the concept! I think it was very easy class to take..!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This guy is out of his mind. The lectures might be fun to go to (required, anyway), but it's definitely not worth it when it comes to exams. He doesn't even read the book, so he has virtually no idea which equations we know and do not, making a lot of the problems extremely difficult. I would recommend not taking this class or taking it elsewhere.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

THE WORST EVER when it came to exams, I saw three girls crying after his disastourously impossible exams..He's ok otherwise. If u have any sense AVOID IT at all costs (last exam average:50.78 percent !!)

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Absolutely hilarious. You will laugh out loud at some of his analogies. Great professor too -- really smart, really knows his stuff and is great at explaining it in a huge lecture. But his exams are impossibly difficult.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Definitely gives an entertaining lecture. I have some female professors with a deeper voice. That being said, lecture is informative, and he gives you the important concepts, formulas, and examples. Not so helpful reviews before exams (i.e. just goes over the practice exam), and the exam averages have been around 60. Good professor, bad class.