Tony Zable - Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Professor: Tony Zable

Department: Physics

College: Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHY212PHY213
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Tony really knows his physics, although lecture can be frustrating at times. He likes to go on tangents that won't show up on tests. He doesn't cover everything on the tests in lecture, so you'll need to read the book. Otherwise, tests are fairly straightforward if you pay attention, as is the lab portion.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHY211212213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

It is impossible to fail his class if you read the book and put in the appropriate effort like studying and finiahing labs. The tests are incredibly easy. Lectures will be confusing if you don't read the material before hand, like you're supposed to. Tony is a nice person, and I don't have nothing bad to say about his calc physics sequence.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Tony uses needlessly convoluted methodologies to make simple problems seem hard. Tony makes bad jokes. Tony rants about how other teachers (Math and Engineering teachers especially) don't teach students how to THINK anymore, and he TOTALLY does. Tony blames his class for his own pacing issues. Labs are dull and low-effort. I cannot recommend Tony.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHY201PHY202
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tony is an amazing professor! He tries to get to know you and wants to help every student succeed. He is also very flexible and understanding. I would definitely take a class with him again.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHY201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Tony is an amazing prof. He is more than fair and wants all students to succeed. Physics isn't an easy subject but if you ask for help he is more than willing to go the extra mile to help you out. You will have to put in hard work to do well but you can't go wrong by taking physics from Tony!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY212
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tony Zable is a cool dude. His teaching style did not work with my learning style. His tests are rather difficult in comparison to the rest of the course work. The class average on our second test was abysmall . If you are going to take his class be prepared to study for many hours & see problems on the test that have never come up in class or HW.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHY213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tony is amazingly disorganized and is an incredibly poor time manager. If you can get him one-on-one he can be helpful, otherwise it's up to Google because the book sucks, too. Often, I looked up course materials from other schools to find things he either did not clarify very well, did not talk about (but we needed to know), or just did wrong.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Inconsistency between use of textbook, lecture notes, or worksheets. Felt lost in inundation without clarification. Students who already have a strong science/trig base will likely do well though. Couldn't survive this class without youtube. Trig isn't a prerequisite, but is the foundation and through line of the course content. Use study groups.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I underestimated the difficulty of the material and struggled. The book we had to use was garbage. Tony is pretty cool and willing to help you out but he does get on tangents. Tests mean everything and the homework was worth disproportionately less than it should have been given the time needed to do it.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHY212
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I really liked this teacher. He knows his physics and likes teaching the concepts of physics rather than just the formulas needed to solve book problems. I feel like I learned more in his class then any other. He can have some crude jokes, which doesn't bother me, but some people are put off by it so be aware of that.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PH201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I have read some of the reviews and I think most of them are unfair. Physics is not an easy subject so some people have difficulty with it, but Tony goes the extra mile to make sure that students are well prepared and informed. He makes sure to interact with every student and takes the time to thoroughly answer every question that is asked.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Some seem to dock Tony for his humor. If you want a 100% serious phys class skip him. But if you're like me and think 4 or 5 jokes a lecture liven up a class, then take him. He does a great job at keeping the students attention. And his jokes whether euphemisms or not are on subject and generally spur an enlightening discussion about the subject.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHY201PHY202
• 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:

I had Zable for the accelerated summer series (201 & 202) and I honestly thought he was such an awesome professor! He is so incredibly helpful and genuinely cares about his students. His tests are a little hard, but fair. If you put in the effort, you will definitely receive a good grade. He also gives a lot of partial credit on his tests.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHY202
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He is very forgiving on his tests and assignments. Never uses the power points, he writes everything out on the board. He is always willing to help anyone with any question, even if is not directly related to to topic at hand. I would take his class again any time.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHY201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The exams were really hard. He is willing to work with you and give second chances.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHY201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is a good teacher, and a nice guy but the topic is so hard and exams were confusing. He will work with you if you ask for help. Half of the class was failing.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Useless teacher, every student at my table has to learn from outside sources. Has no lesson plans which means he usually ends up achieving very little in class, doesn't follow his own syllabus. Class got a D average on first exam and instead of realizing his own failures he yelled at the class. Feedback is useless and often unprofessional.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Awesome guy. Genuinely cares. His jokes are at best witty yet crude, and at worst seriously offensive. Not a great teacher. He'll spend all class on one example that will cover the entire chapter. If you don't understand you'd better read the book. Actually, if you successfully do his online worksheets you will ace the exams. Easy yet unhelpful.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHY201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

At the beginning of the term I was worried that I would have to be self taught because of Tony's lack of lecture, but that changed. He has turned out to be an excellent teacher because of three things: 1)he understands the questions asked, 2)he answers them brilliantly, and 3)he uses humor to break tension.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHY203
• 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:

Laidback, fun, emphasizes concepts, not punctual, pseudo-inappropriate, caring, approachable, tangental, fair, intelligent, slight favortism. Show determination to learn material! If you don't get something follow-up and make an appointment (even AFTER the tests). The material builds after itself, plus you'll gain favor with him and garner respect.