Michael Chen - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Professor: Michael Chen

Department: Physics

College: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHY101
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Micheal Chen was a great professor. Phys 101 is not a particularly interesting class, but I didn't mind going to his lectures at all. His homework problems are easy to follow and he used them for both midterms and the final. If you study those and know the old exam questions well you will do great.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Opposite of about every tag, he is quite a simple-minded boring prof and you tend to laugh at him, not with him. At times hard to understand and i found myself learning better from the power point slides. Only reason i went to class was iclickers. Overall he was not difficult, but i probably didnt study enough, self practice is recommended.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Gives informative and sometimes funny lectures and Michael is extremely helpful during office hours. As long as you keep up with the homework and lectures you should be fine in the class. Most of Michael's exam questions come from the online, tutorial and written assignments. Make sure you do the homework thoroughly and ask questions.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS101
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A very nice and funny prof. He makes sure you understand and checks in with the class to encourage questions during lectures. Lectures aren't that interesting but it is bearable. He is kind during office hours and is very fair. His exams are mainly based off of the assignments and previous practice exams. Textbook is not really needed.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHY101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Michael's an awesome prof. He may be a little boring at times but that's because the material is dry. He is actually pretty funny if you talk to him outside of class. Tests were extremely straightforward, expect tutorial and clicker questions to be on there.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY101
• 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:

Michael is a good prof, physics has always been one of my worst classes but he makes it bearable and doable. You have to study and keep up with all the assignments but if you do everything that's assigned and look at the lecture slides, there won't be any surprises in the exams and you'll get a decent grade

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Michael reuses a lot of questions in his exams. Studying his lecture slides and understanding the questions he goes through is enough for this class. His classes were fun, although he gets distracted easily. He moved slowly through concepts, and made them easy to understand. If you're able to do assignments and homework without help, you'll be fine

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

amazing prof, gave valuable and useful information for future physics courses. an awesome prof to have if you want to gain a strong physics foundation!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Makes pre-lecture quizzes, good way of encouraging you to read content before lecture, easier to understand and ask questions. Spends a long time on one subject, sometimes gets confused or goes off track. Uploads lecture note slides beforehand. Recommend having device with the slides during lecture, go ahead in notes if you already understand

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very funny

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are easy to understand, most info to study for midterms & finals are on the lecture sides. Lab & assignments are relatively easy.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Chen is the honestly one of the nicest profs out there. Well respected, passionate, and clear and concise with explanations. He is very easy to talk to if you ever need to speak to him, and has a great sense of empathy when it comes to student deadlines and assignments. Stay on top of your work and you will do fine! Thank you Dr. Chen - w

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was always terrified of physics because I didn't feel that I did well in the subject in high school. However, Dr. Chen did a great job explaining concepts and gave hints about the exams. By repeatedly going over difficult topics and by making the class enjoyable, I found myself much more confident about taking my next physics course!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS221
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Chen is a boss. Literally just finished up my degree, but was missing physics 221. Was taking two courses while working full time, so I didn't study too much. still got a c-. Granted, if I had actually spent the time to study you'll get a good grade (the topic is difficult). All in all, super swell guy.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great prof that cares for his students. I highly recommend going to his office hours if you're ever confused because he can explain topics extremely well one on one.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's HILARIOUS without trying. Makes physics enjoyable. Literally brought a barbie doll to lecture, put it on a Van de Graaff generator, and poked at it's hair with a stick. Made my day. He rambles a lot so lectures can get boring and hard to follow, but the assignments and labs are super helpful and if you do those you should get a decent mark!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very nice Prof, his lecture slides were helpful and he posts the answers to lecture questions on Canvas. I highly recommend going to his office hours because he's really good at explaining various problems in detail. His tests were fairly easy because he would mention what to expect on the exam, which questions to take note of, etc.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Chen is the best prof I've ever had. He really wants his students to succeed and even gives hints before exams on what to study.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

1. Heavy chinese accent, i mean HONGKONG style english!! 2. 50-60 years old guy, midterm is pretty hard, especially for PHYS 100 this introductory course. I have taken High school physics 12 then drop it, hard to catch up lots of homework Would recommend to take another prof if possible, well there isn't that much good physics prof here at SFU....

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His sense of humor is one where he doesn't try but somehow the entire is laughing. and we had a morning class. He made physics (which I already loved), a wonderful experience. Listen to him when he says "I reused exam questions....I use tutorial questions....I use lecture examples....." because he sure does!! Seriously loved him as a prof.