Steven Stahler - University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Professor: Steven Stahler

Department: Physics

College: University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I despise physics, but I did fine, so follow my example and pray to the deity of your choice that you beat the curve. His demonstrations and tendency to occasionally digress into the physics of astronomy gave our writing hands welcome breaks. The practice midterms he provides arent necessarily representative of the actual exams.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS8B
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I like his lecturing style. He wrote on board and his notes were a little disorganized but okay. Stahler hasn't taught 8B in many years since 2006 so it's hard to find practice mt that resembles his style. 2 MT were fair but final was hard, final avg <50%. Beat the curve and you're fine.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS8B
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Umm, I'm not sure what happened in class... he would randomly tell stories that were not relevant to the material. It was difficult to gauge what would be on the exam. Definitely, read the textbook to understand lecture material. Mid 1/2 weren't awful, but the final destroyed everyone :^)

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• 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:

Great professor! He's great at explaining difficult concepts (if you can keep up!), and takes "math breaks" (derives math tricks used in physics) which are interesting and easy to follow. The exams got progressively harder, and the final was pretty challenging. The curve was very tough - my raw score in the class ended up being my final grade.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: 51959
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Stahler loads these lectures with interesting demos and real world examples. I took AP Physics in high school, and this course applied those concepts to the world beautifully. Stahler is also a really nice guy, and he has a genuine interest in helping students.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures were sometimes heavily proof based, but very clear and quite relevant. Stahler was friendly and helpful, and very approachable. Midterms were surprisingly easy, but the final was incredibly hard. As a result you don't really know your grade until after the semester is over.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures are very clear and logical but tend to be unnecessarily proof/derivation-based. He does introduce some very good problems, however. He's willing to answer questions during lecture and a nice guy in general. Course is competitive. Two easy midterms (whose curves were very hard) and a hard final.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7A
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Great teacher! Clear in lecture, tests are all doable and based off of lecture, some of the best chalkboard handwriting I've ever seen--I seldom opened the textbook despite my abysmal physics background going into the class (hs teacher didn't understand calculus and repeatedly taught things incorrectly). Take him if you can!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS7A
• 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:

Dr. Stahler is a good lecturer. He is very clear with his expectations and his midterms/final were mostly straightforward. He is very open to meeting students to help them and likes to bring astronomy into the class which is cool.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures can be somewhat confusing, but he will gladly answer any questions during the lecture. The midterms aren't hard, and he really teaches you the stuff. If you find yourself struggling, send him an email asking for a 1-on-1 appointment. It will be very useful.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7B
• 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:

I loved Stahler. His quick pace is refreshing and his proofs are complex, yet understandable. I felt that I was being taught physics, as opposed to approaches to problem solving. He makes you think, which is why many people complain about the lectures being too hard. But why are you at Berekely? Hopefully to learn...

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO10
• 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:

He is clear in lecture but he is sooooooooooooo boring, i found myself falling asleep and I wasn't tired before i went to class. My gsi sucked. The homework was to focused on math. I was interested in astronomy but i hated his class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO10
• 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:

The homework is impossible, and the tests are not on what his lectures emphasize. The class was too math/physics intensive for a basic astro class. If you take this class, take it pass/no pass, and always go to the homework sessions!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO10
• 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:

If you think Astronomy is interesting, then do not take Stahler's course. For a class that probably only Astro majors need, the homework load is absurd, even for the 4 units that it offers. Take it pass/no pass, if you absolutely must take it. My advice is to stay away.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHY7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Pretty nice in grading, and easy on the midterm. A lot of helpful if you go to office hours.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS8B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Very clear in lecture. Tests requires some deeper understanding of the material as he often asks to explain why and how something occurs in the problem. Have to work hard to get at least a B in the class.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS8B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I never really went to his lecture, cause it was too mathy. I dont need to know how the equations were derived, only how to use them. Given the effort i put into this class however, the outcome was pretty good. Just copy all the homework answers into your cheat sheet and since the grading is lenient, you'll probably be at the curve or beating it.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS8B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Nice sense of humor, great demonstrations!Focuses on the math a lot and gives tricky tests but is overall a great guy. Applies real world situations that're pretty interesting...

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS8B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He nearly destroyed the lecture hall while enjoying his demonstrations. Enough said.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS7A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

boring, monotonous. he's an astrophysics prof. he reads off his notes, and copies them onto the board during class (which wastes time). he makes rudimentary errors. for example, things can't have negative mass.