David Kastor - University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Professor: David Kastor

Department: Physics

College: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS000
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

In Physics 151, he reads directly from slides so there's no point in even showing up since he uploads after class. Lectures are easy to understand but that won't help you with the homework. There isn't enough material to help with exams its just the homework you do and "tutorials" that are way too easy.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHY151
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

3 things you should know a) Lectures aren't mandator. They will be packed at the beginning of the semester, empty at the end. b) His lectures are boring, but still go. The info covered is solid. c) TESTS ARE HARD. Best thing to study is doing a high magnitude of problems. He lets you have a formula sheet though, so put examples/notes on i

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHY151
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Kastor cares about his students and he wants us to learn. Whenever I have a question, I literally send him a screenshot of the question (best thing to do so you get a quick answer vs referencing the hw q) and he always responds with explanation. He is available outside of office hours too. Though lectures are pretty boring, the information is great

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Kastor is a pretty good professor. The material is hard for a gen ed, but Kastor is very helpful if you ask him questions. His lectures are very useful when studying, and he allows a note sheet during the exams. The practice tests are incredibly useful. Read the book and study the PowerPoints and the class is very manageable.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Meteorology is a great choice if you're uninspired by PS! Kastor is very clear from the get-go about grading criteria and test materials. He's generous with extra credit for attendance, he posts lectures and slides online, and he adjusts grades so the tests with better scores count for more. He's also wicked funny. Study with the practice tests!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY151
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Reads from slides and stay a bit behind the syllabus still, he is a nice professor. He cares about students and wants everyone to get good grades.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS151
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Gives clear lectures and gives you plenty of time to take notes. Sometimes he implements videos in his lectures to make it more interesting or to get some laughs. He also has a soothing voice.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Kastor's a really great professor for this class. He posts all his slides online and videos of all the lectures pretty timely. He gets that it's lecture heavy so he tries to break up the class with videos or experiments or dry dad jokes.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Nice guy who explains things clearly. The class is three exams overall and two sets of homework each week. There's extra credit for attendance, but written homework is time consuming and hard, not like what he discusses in class. The tests are also difficult. He allows cheat sheets and can use last years exam to practice (which you absolute need.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Physics 151 trips up a lot of people, but Kastor is a good professor. He throws jokes into his powerpoints and that lightens up the otherwise lecture heavy classes. The weekly homework takes about an hour and the tests do not always correlate with the masteringphysics practice. The practice on Moodle is better. If you can get an old test do it.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Really good lecturer. Very helpful and overall nice guy. Exams test your ability to solve trick problems much more than they actually test your ability to know and execute the concepts. Not a great class for someone who has never taken physics in high school.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Kastor is a great guy who cares about his students. The worst part about this class are the exams. I struggled a lot because they are very difficult! The examples during lectures and homework problems do not correlate with the exam questions

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS151
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Physics 151 is hard in general, so it isn't necessarily him that makes the class awful. It is 75% exams that are extremely difficult compared to in class problems and the homework. He is a sweet man and always tries to engage with the crowd by throwing a video into his slides. Always willing to help outside of class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

David Kastor is not the teacher to go to if you wish to be inspired. He is the teacher to go to if you know you're going to struggle in this class. I wish I took advantage of his office hours earlier as it is it basically free tutoring and he cares, he wants his students to succeed he just isn't exactly sure how to help so go to him with questions

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Easy class and Professor Kastor is a great guy. He gives a lot of extra credit opportunities, for example on the tests there are 55 questions but the test is graded out of 50. Also, he sometimes takes attendance and if you're there, you get extra credit. Tests are all multiple choice. It is a great PS Gen Ed requirement.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He is really sweet and always seems to be smiling so classes are bearable although a little dull. The tests are extremely easy and most of the questions are taken from the homework and the practice exam. There is a decent amount of homework for the class though, which can be time consuming. Overall pretty easy and it's not hard to do well in.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Kastor is a great guy and he wants to see students do well. The problem? He's dull so it's hard to pay attention and his tests are insanely difficult. I took this as my PS gen ed. I wanted to take something manageable. This wasn't it. He's so nice, but the content is really hard. Needed a B and I'll be lucky to get a C-

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ASTRONOMY105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Mr. Kastor is extremely helpful and professional, and overall a guy who wants to see his students succeed. That aside, I will say that his astronomy 105 class is probably one of the most difficult gen eds to take. Expecting hours doing homework and difficult tests. It is possible to get a B or an A in this class, but not without working for it.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ASTRON105
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Kastor is such a good guy who loves his field. I couldn't say anything but great things about how helpful he is and how kind he is. The problem is he's so dull. I find myself falling asleep no matter how hard I pay attention. The exams and homework are very difficult too. Took this for a gen ed, wish I found something a tad less brutal.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: 568
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took his General Relativity and Cosmology course. He was fantastic and I loved the class although it was difficult. This was essentially a course in differential geometry and tensor analysis for 35 semester and the rest was actual GR. He is a very fair grader. There were three exams, lowest score is dropped and highest score is weighted more.