Steven Siegel - San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA

Professor: Steven Siegel

Department: Physics

College: San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS126
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The information given in class is valuable. There are good correlations between the book and his examples, however he makes his tests from an automatic system which does not really cover what he made in class. I would say that you go to his lectures, or don't, either way, you will have a hard time with the tests.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I took this class during my last semester at Mesa and transferred with a high GPA. After spending a year at a world renowned university, I have realized the disservice from Professor Siegel. After taking a class on Electromagnetism, I realized how much I did not know about modern & quantum based principles. Avoid if possible.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

you only have to show up to labs and on the days where he gives quizzes. other than that his lectures are useless af and youre better off just reading the book tbh

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS126
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Siegel is funny & conducts his lectures in a understandable manner. The hwk helps prepare u for the exams, but is often more complicated than the exam. Focus on the practice exams to do well on the exams. Make sure u do solve problem at end of exam first! Chegg online solutions is a great tool to learn how to do the hwk!!!!! Attend Lab.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS126
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Horrible physics professor. If you genuinely like physics and want to learn about it, run. Very poor job explaining concepts or ideas. Just spits out equations from the book. You will not actually learn anything in this class. This professor needs to retire already and allow some young talent the opportunity to actually teach.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYSICS196
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Electricity and Magnetism is a tough course, this course is even tougher when you have to do a lot of studying for yourself. HW is online. Didn't learn much from this course which sucked because further study in electrical engineering was a bit tough because some of the fundamentals weren't properly taught.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Cons: Powerpoint slides and lab manual are out of date. Pro's: clear lectures, manages class time well, encourages class participation, easy weekly quizzes, lets you bring a formula sheet to exams. He does all of the exam derivations in class, so attendance is vital. Do the study guides, re-do homework, review the labs and you can get an easy A.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

A typical College/University professor. Will help if you ask but will not spoon feed you information, if that's what you need, go back to High School. Easy test? may be, if you read the book. If you did not learn, It's because you did not want to learn. I don't give 5 because no one is beyond improvement but he's outstanding in my book

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Tests were fairly easy, do the homework, read the book (even though its not needed), and do the study guides and you'll be fine. If you are a physics major, do extra, do lots extra, this class is too light to prep you for upper division modern physics courses.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

He is a kind guy, tries to help students. But it seems like he only has cursory knowledge about the subjects. He can't explain a lot of the questions from students. His math is VERY dodgy, especially when it comes to differential equations. Easy tests though. Take him if you want an easy A, but you will learn close to nothing

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

First off, his lectures are from powerpoints, where after the ppt he does example problems (THESE ARE KEY!) the example problems are most likely the ones you see on the test. His lectures are decent at best and confusing but do attend HE LOVES derivations but only 1/2 will appear on tests. Lab/Quizzes were a breeze. 1 test 1 final; 10 quiz 10 labs

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS212
• 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:

Professor Steve is very knowledgeable and helpful. Thoroughly enjoyed taking his class. Highly recommend him to anyone who is going to take physics.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• 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:

Easy for physics. Right ~80% of the time, making the class useless. Gave false definitions, did problems wrong, and misunderstood concepts. Interactive; did sample problems on the board and class problems. Exam problems & material were similar to board problems but not to homework or e/c, and no practice problems or study guides were available.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Mid term and Final are the killers. Study hard for those. Weekly quizzes are easy. Labs are usually well planned. Uses the same PPT slides from MANY years past. Seems to be able to connect anything to Astrology (Scientific, NOT horoscopes). Detail oriented and nit-picky, but overall a decent teacher.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS196
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

All he does is read from the book, even if it is wrong. Terrible teacher and doesnt give a lot of partial credit. Has a chip on his shoulder. He either likes you or doesn't like you. Dont take this guy unless you have to.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

This class was ok. Grades really hard on the test but they are easy questions. So Partial Credit doesnt help. Little mistakes = -15 pts on test. Ok teacher, Writes notes from book even though it may be incorrect.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS196
• 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:

Prof. Siegel demonstrated in-depth knowledge of subject & excellent problem-solving skills; explained & clarified difficult concepts uncommonly well; proved approachable, amiable, & helpful; delivered quite interesting & absorbing lectures. He is the finest Physics Prof. I?ve ever had, & I give him my highest recommendation. Will definitely take ad

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ASTR101
• 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:

Online course, compressed. Like 18 quizzes and two tests. Virtually no interaction with the professor, this is do-it-yourself. You can do quizzes twice (and you get the answers after the first try) so it's not hard to get a good grade if you do at least OK on the two (long) tests. I used cliffs notes instead of textbook, so you can save some money.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS196
• 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:

Take him if you like teaching yourself the material. His classes are based on him regurgitating the textbook with very little explanation. The problems solved in class are not even close to the ones on the test. If you want to truly understand the material take another professor.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS197
• 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:

Probably the least knowledgeable person in the physics department. He doesn't know the material and skips entire sections of the book. He can not answer question accurately in lab or lecture, and presents derivations he copies from the internet, which are often wrong. He test you on what he knows, which is much, so his test are pretty easy.