Gary Chottiner - Case Western Reserve University,Cleveland, OH

Professor: Gary Chottiner

Department: Physics

College: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Seems like this is an unpopular opinion, but I really liked Dr. C. The material was explained well and at a reasonable pace. Yes, there was a lot of homework, but the homework was essential to do well on the tests. He often took homework problems (or something similar) to be on tests. Really nice guy outside of class and in office hours.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Average professor. His homework is hard, but can be found on Chegg or by going to SI sessions where they go through the homework (seriously, go, they explain everything). Tests are OK, lab annoying but doable. He's a nice old man that really likes teaching physics, and his class is easier then Covault. What's not to like?

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

What a guy. Dr. C is very knowledgeable about experimental physics. All the notes he provides are extremely thorough and include comics and culturally relevant information. He doesn't answer questions in a straightforward manner, but this inspires critical thinking, which is more important anyway. He's also great at giving advice. Would recommend.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are useless. Homework is long and hard. First 2 exams are easy, third exam is unfairly hard. Doesn't curve either.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS204
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Doctor C is the most awesome professor on Earth, he brought candy and fruit to class everyday, and he is extremely good at making jokes. He would be the greatest mentor.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Chottiner gives interesting lectures and really goes deep into the material. If you can do the homework you will do well in his class. Can be a difficult grader but really cares about his students. Basically if you like physics he's a great teacher and if you don't you'll hate the amount of work you have to put in his class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He goes way more in-depth then he needs to from this class. Test are 50 minutes long so you really gotta know your stuff.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Bad professor, assigns way TOO MUCH homework, lectures don't help, he just skims through the slides, the hw questions he assigns are also really hard (he tends to give questions that are marked with asterisks which means they are more difficult than usual). Good luck if your taking it with him

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Really bad professor don't you guys ever take his classes

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• 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:

Dr. C's lectures are decently interesting. he gives a lot of hands on examples, but he never shows example problems so when you get to the homework, it's difficult and takes a while to do. Tests are graded hard.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

relatively hard to pull off an A without getting A's on all the tests. lectures aren't that helpful because he just reads through the slides. the material is mostly learned through doing homework and going back through the slides. chegg is recommended to get a good homework grade

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I had already taken a variation of Physics 1 twice prior to college... Somehow, he made it harder. His slides were very full of formula derivations, but somehow we didn't get taught very many actual concepts... He assigns a ton of homework and it isn't even all graded...

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He goes through the content really fast. The tests aren't bad as long as you study and redo all the homework problems and go over the content on your own.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Assigns homework problems harder than examples from lecture. Only study the homework solutions for the test because the problems are very similar. Homework is extremely stressful when you haven't learned anything for it and it is graded for accuracy every week. Due on Mondays too which kills the weekend. Do not recommend.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A solidly average prof. Despite some pretty un-helpful lectures, Chottiner helps you study by giving homework that basically gets copied onto tests. Overall, the class is conceptually easy with a lot of work.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Honestly, I really love PHYS 121. Chottiner can be a tough professor, especially if you haven't taken a physics course before, though. His lectures are clear, but even as someone who has taken physics before they felt really fast. Homework is hard at times, but tests are easy if you understand the homeworkclicker questions.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He goes a bit fast, but his lectures are clear and he's good at explaining concepts, especially if you ask him specific questions. His clicker questions are helpful and he always puts a few on exams. His homework can be tricky but if you are able to solve most of the problems, you'll be fine for the tests

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Chottiner is a pretty good professor. His lectures are not the most helpful, but he will answer questions. His homework assignments really help you study for the tests.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS122
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Awful teacher. The only reason I did well in this class was because of my high school AP Physics teacher.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I learned absolutely nothing from this "professor." He believes in "teaching" the material after we already had graded homework on it. He spent the first 3 weeks of class defending his syllabus and his use of microsoft word as a method of presentation. Either drop the class and take it next semester, or test out of it before the semester starts.