Gina Hoatson - College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Professor: Gina Hoatson

Department: Physics

College: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Hoatson's 101 lecture was honestly horrible. Teaching physics is difficult when the powerpoint slides are filled with 15 sentences per slide. Her examples were pre-completed, which made it difficult to learn how to actually solve the problems.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS101
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are fast and confusing. All of the example problems ahead of time so it's difficult to follow when she's trying to explain how to solve them. She is willing to work with students, offering extensions on homework assignments and once attaching a heavy curve to a test that the class did poorly on, but maybe there's a reason that happened...

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS101P
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I only took Prof. Hoatson for PHYS101 Problem Session, but I'd like to take her for a full class now. She's very kind, good at breaking down weekly problems, and always makes you feel comfortable with a problem before moving on.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Great Ideas of Physics is a great class for the science (without lab) GER. It's a survey of the interesting parts of physics and is easy even for people who hated physics. Dr. Hoatson has a great personality and it's easy to get an A on all homework assignments/ summaries of videos.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I liked Prof Hoatson well enough, she was helpful if you went to her office hours and she occasionally gave points back. The material is really interesting, but the way she teaches it is a bit boring. I did alright on the tests, but the final...there were questions we definitely had never gone over!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS102H
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hoatson talks way too fast and goes too fast through the lecture, so it's hard to copy her notes and listen to her at the same time. Unreasonable about tests/ can't answer questions about why she took off points. But in the end she curved the final grades a lot. Nice, but not a good lecturer and not very helpful.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: 102H
• 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:

The tests are crazy difficult and sometimes it's hard to follow her lectures because she goes super fast through these handmade slides. The book, however, is super helpful in covering gaps. Also she sets the average pretty high so as long as you're above average, you have at least an A-

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS102H
• 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:

Difficult class. Dr. Hoatson uses handmade slides during her lectures and goes through them fast, so it's hard to copy down all the notes. Although there officially isn't a math requirement, some familiarity with multivariable calc helps a LOT. Best advice: make friends with classmates and do group review and homework sessions.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Simple, easy homework boosts grade (40% of grade). Midterms are moderate; problems are basic because its a survey course. Some students run into trouble because there is a lot of material to know (though not covered in detail). However, if you stay on top of the reading you will have no problem with exams. She is very nice and fair.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She's an average grader and a fine teacher, but she does little to excite a class about topics that should be amazingly engaging

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Classes aren't very engaging. She gives very reasonable grades. It's not hard to do well in the class, but I some of the things she says in lecture are not accurate (not all of the time), but I caught about 3-4 slips one semester.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Pretty easy. If you've taken physics in high school, you'll be fine. If you haven't, you will be lost and confused. Easy class, but the final is difficult. Pay attention in class and you'll be fine. Tries to rush through material too fast.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS107
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

The class itself is not that tough to get a good grade in if you study. She is extremely nitpicky on tests when she grades them. Not a bad class though

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• 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:

she is the nicest woman! basically if you go to class and take notes, the tests aren't too awful. pretty straightforward and homework is 40% of the grade and it's soooo easy to get 100% on the homework. definitely recommend as a GER fulfillment

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• 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:

she is the nicest woman! basically if you go to class and take notes, the tests aren't too awful. pretty straightforward and homework is 40% of the grade and it's soooo easy to get 100% on the homework. definitely recommend as a GER fulfillment

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• 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:

she is the nicest woman! basically if you go to class and take notes, the tests aren't too awful. pretty straightforward and homework is 40% of the grade and it's soooo easy to get 100% on the homework. definitely recommend as a GER fulfillment

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I really liked Prof Hoatson at first but now I have a bad grade, don't understand the material, and she doesn't help very much at all. The tests and homework contain material we haven't even talked about in class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

She teaches what pseudoscience is, and at the same time her classes define the style of pseudoscience. The course tries to teach you the physics from Aristole to Louis de Broglie within a semester. AND SO THAT YOU ARE NOT LEARNING PHYSICS AT ALL; YOU ARE LEARNING COMMONSENSE, WHICH IS PIECE OF SHIT WITH YOUR PAYING SO MUCH COMING HERE TO A COLLEGE.

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Info on her slides are VERBATIM the important info from the book. Read the chapter before class (imagine!), bring the book and a highlighter, and you can easily pay attention!

Rating # 20

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

very hard class, though that could be the prof or the subject. She had to curve the final greatly in order for not everyont to fail, but that isnt uncommon in physics anyway. As a lecturer, I didnt like her, because she taught from the book. As a person and as a physicist, I liked her a lot. She is very personable and knows her stuff.