Susan Difranzo - Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY

Professor: Susan Difranzo

Department: Science

College: Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Save yourself a lot of crying, stress, and grief. Take someone other than Difranzo. Like other reviewers said, her intellect is way too high for an introductory physics class. Dont bother stressing over the Webassign homework. You need a PhD in physics alone to make some sense of it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Ugh, she assumes we read the entire chapter before starting the new chapter. The only thing she goes over in class is sample problems. Does not help me at all, though her exams are not too difficult.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHY150
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DiFranzo Has such an elevated intelect that it is hard for her to put concepts into laymen terms for students new to physics. Does not go over proofs of concepts in class and blasts through problems. With a large amount of effort passing is possible but it is difficult. Good professor for Physics 3 and 4 but not lower level, very dry lectures.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHY150
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor DiFranzo only grades 6 things: lab, clicker quizzes, concept quizzes every other week, homework, midterm exam & final exam. I completely bombed the concept quizzes, though, I did well on the other grades. I got an A on the final, which helped my final A in the class. She is amazing with feedback and letting you know what you need to know.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS250
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is very smart. I learned more from her in lecture than professor Burtt. She is very organized which can be a big change from Burtt. I got a B with Difranzo in PHYS 150. (Learned a lot) I got an A with Burtt in PHYS 151. (Not sure I learned but liked the grade) I got a B with Difranzo in PHYS 250. (Learned a lot but was a lot of work)

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150250
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is a great lecturer and is willing to help you understand difficult concepts, if she thinks you are trying. From my experience, the people doing poorly in her course are the ones who elect not to study or go to classes.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS152
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

review notes from class. she is great, always willing to explain things you need clarification in. labs, take good notes of your data and be professional in your reports. i struggle in math and i got a B in her class. test questions are close to if not something you have seen before in class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Physics is a beastly course regardless of the teacher. Difranzo makes the course awesome. She does go through the material kind of fast, so if you struggle, you have to take advantage of her office hours. Tests are hard, but they are fair. Put in the effort you can easily do well.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Difranzo is so smart, you have to slow her down if you don't understand what she is teaching. She is very kind and gives many different ways to earn points for your grade. She includes interesting experiments and videos in her lectures.

Rating # 10

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

explains things clearly,helps u if u ask fr it. easy going on the labs unlike some of the other teachers. No surprises on the test. sometimes has extra credit on it. as long as u do the homework,study,put some effort in the lab write up and attended class it shouldn't be too bad.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great teacher, if you're willing to learn. Go to class, do the homework, understand the practice test. She notices if you're trying and helps you out as much as she can.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The online physics class is primarily "taught" by reading the textbook, and homework is directly from the text as well. I wish I had taken an actual lecture with her, because she explains everything well and is extremely helpful (during lab and office hours). She is a very fair grader and is flexible with due dates.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class. Online is not easy with her or her office hours. We had a very tough time coming from a professor who would work with you repetitivly. The semester before had a take home final! Unfortunatly most of us were not pleased with her tests. Although fair grading. Poor teaching and preparation for final and quizes.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The BEST! Makes abstract physics concepts understandable, and more importantly, relate-able. Paces class perfectly. Have taken her for two physics classes and a lab section, by far my favorite teacher!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She is an excellent lecturer. Her grading is fair. She is willing to help and makes sense of the material.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Excellent teacher, understanding, flexible on lab due dates. She gives great notes and is committed to your success. She does, however, grade labs very carefully, but the amount of time you have to finish them should make this a moot point.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• 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:

Suzie was, by far, one of the best instructors I've ever come in contact with. She explained physics in a way that was easy to understand and was always willing to help outside of class hours. Her lectures were interesting and captivating. take her for class and lab if possible!!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY150
• 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:

Excellent teacher. Homework was probably the most difficult part, but she is more than willing to help you one-on-one or go over things in class. Tests are more than fair and the practice tests are identical to the real thing. And she is also a very nice person who makes class interesting (when she can) Hope I have her for PHYII.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS250
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

very fair, helpful if you go to her. very personable. Do the homework and do good labs. tests can be tough.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you can help it, DO NOT TAKE PHYSICS ONLINE! It is the worst thing anyone can do to themselves. I am barely understanding everything she is going over. The labs are easy...but the homework and tests are murder.