Mark Mattson - James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Professor: Mark Mattson

Department: Science

College: James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Mattson does not do a good job explaining material. He makes topics a lot more complicated than they need to be and tests are crazy hard. He does curve though. I put a ton of work into the class, got a 70 average on tests and ended up with a solid B. Expect to do a lot of teaching / reviewing on your own. Hard class!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This is the worst professor Ive ever had. He acts pretentious and like he is above this course and teaches in a way that you have to teach yourself the material and spend 90 minutes outside of lecture listening to his OTHER LECTURES. It is completely ridiculous and nobody knows whats going on. Horrible.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Mattson is alright. He comes off as very knowledgeable and nice, but if you go to his office hours, he is quite rude and condescending. His tests are stupid hard, class averages are never higher than a 65, be prepared to work for your grade.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This guy is awesome. Makes pays 140 not as hard as it should be. Tests are what you learn so if you study and do the homework, and A is not hard!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Mattson is alright. The one major problem is that he doesn't do very well at explaining the things he needs to and spends a large amount of class time going over simple concepts. You'll get where you need to with him, but you may not understand all of it and will instead just focus on surviving one test at a time.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Pretty good class, tests are kinda hard but there is a MASSIVE curve at the end of the semester. 3 tests ,1 dropped and a final. He's pretty good over email. Homework reading quizzes are 10% and in class activities are 25%. Hard class, but it's easy to get a good grade.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: INC
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mattson is an okay guy. He tries to be funny in lecture because he knows the material is dry. Your grade consists of 6-8 homework problems due every Friday except when you have a test, 3 test, and a final. HUGE CURVE. Do well on the homework and get about a 50-60 on your tests and you'll pass with a B.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

3 tests but he drops 1, weekly HW (easy, all the answers can be found on google if you can't figure it out on your own), and a final. HW is a huge chunk of your grade so do it, its easy and helps your grade bigtime. Tests are hard but there is a huge curve at the end of the class so study and try to pull out 70s or better, you will get atleast a B

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Expect to listen to the online lectures, read the book, and attend class if you actually want to know what's going on. His tests are pretty hard and he likes the average to be a 62. The math isn't that bad, but his concepts questions were awful. If you're someone who hates waiting on a giant curve at the end of the semester, look for someone else.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst professors at jmu. He is not very good at explaining thing and makes test harder than they need to be. I highly recommend taking someone else

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Terrible teacher. I was at the tutor center all the time, and they could explain things to me in 2 minutes that he couldn't in 50 minutes. What was I thinking

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140L
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I hated how he posted online lectures to listen to beforehand then did NOTHING during class, but it's nice to have access to the material when you need it. I had a 60 avg on tests and a 90 for my hw and got a B-. HW is worth 35% of final grade, he drops one test and throws a huge curve at the end so I def recommend even tho he's not a great prof.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not too hard if u try. Give hw every week that helps your grade. and curve at the end of semester. Always be there for you when u need help. Physics is hard in general. Recommend to take him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He allows a cheat sheet for every exam, cumulative final, homework weekly ranging from needing a tutor to being able to look up online. Attendance isn't mandatory but he does go over problems in class. I found the textbook way more helpful than his pre-class lectures. Really helpful in email and sort of helpful during office hours.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• 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:

Can't explain at all

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

More confusing than it had to be

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I went to class maybe 5 times all semester and got a B+. All of his powerpoints are online and are basically self explanatory. All of the tests are the same version too. He isn't a good teacher but hes definitely better than Banu... take him for minimal work and a solid grade. with effort you can def pull a B or higher

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Basically be prepared to teach yourself the material, he goes so fast and doesn't help you understand. He's a nice guy and will help in office hours, but other than that STRESS.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• 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:

Dr. Mattson is a nice guy but his class is so poorly structured for learning the material its not even funny. He does all things possible to inflate your grade including multiple make up tests and homework's,group work etc, that counts for the majority of your grade. Even with that he STILL needs to curve. You'll be frustrated during this class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS140
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

going to this class is a joke. the only thing you do in it is go over 3 practice problems that are no help. he lectures completely online so be prepared to b extremely BORED. really nice and funny. teaches alright but overall it is really hard to understand the material because the lectures are online.50 averages on tests, but he curves like crazy.