Rick Nolthenius - Cabrillo College

Professor: Rick Nolthenius

Department: Astronomy

College: Cabrillo College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO3
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The textbook is a must but its super cheap. The class is very lecture heavy but if you show that you care about the class and read the chapters and complete the study guides he has for each quiz, you will be fine. Absolutely no official homework but theres a quiz every week. It was a great class. It is somewhat difficult though.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO3
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The beginning of the semester was absolutely horrible, but it got better later on. Many of his quizzes have confusing questions that dont directly relate to the readings, and make you think. If you actually read the textbook and look at his PowerPoint summaries/ study guides, the class will become bearable and passable. Information is interesting!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This professor was difficult to say the least. He didnt give clear directions and taught concepts that were very difficult for an base lvl astro class. He would give long lectures about things we werent quizzed on and didnt help you if missed class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I had to drop this class. Rick berated/belittled people publicly, wouldn't take criticism when he confused students. Told an older student she shouldn't be taking medication for her anxiety. Very narcissistic and dry. It's a shame he's the only teacher in the astro department! Turned me away from future astro classes at Cabrillo. Awful experience!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• 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:

Rick Nolthenius was an awesome professor, if you actually participate. Most people who didn't like his class never participated nor did they have any interest in astronomy in the first place. Rick will explain any project, extra credit, or section you're confused with, if you ask. Take his class and you may be considering astronomy as a degree.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I dont even know what happened in that class. The biggest issue is that his quizzes were trivial and had little to do with the material. You entire grade rests on six hard 9-12 question quizzes (60%) and the final. However, he grades 10% down (80%A, 70%B, 60%C) and allows for extra credit. He delivered the material very poorly and was confusing

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I would not recommend taking Rick under any circumstances. While he is incredibly passionate about what he teaches, it's hard for him to teach it, leaving many people really confused and baffled by his lectures, and he gets offended if anyone questions or critiques his way of teaching. If you must take him, use the study guides for quizzes to pass

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO7
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was very excited to take an astronomy class at Cabrillo, but after taking one with Rick I was kind of turned off to taking another astronomy class. He reads directly off of his slides that no one understands and expects people to know ridiculous material. If you haven't taken an environmental studies or math before ASTRO7 you might struggle.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Rick is extremely knowledgeable. He very smart and knows his astronomy and I respected him for that. His lectures are always hard to follow and pay attention to, but if you sit down and talk with him he's an awesome guy to learn from. He doesn't believe in memorization strategies, so use the study guides to learn concepts instead of fact memorizing

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO7
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I never skipped class and it was so hard to understand his lectures. He literally reads off the power points and they are not very interesting either. no homework, all quizzes and exams. Allows extra credit but they require a lot of work. He is fine if you like the subject but otherwise it is very tough.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO7
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This class was hard for me to pay attention/want to go to, granted it was a 6-9pm class. Rick didn't answer questions directly, and his tests were somewhat hard to follow because they asked questions we hadn't even seen. If you go to lecture and take thorough notes you should do fine though.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Rick is unique, but not one of my favorite professors. Never have I had a professor give us what I assumed to be his doctoral thesis about teaching and quiz us on it. Makes you think, not memorize. Got a little moody when students had concerns. Went rather fast in his lectures. I don't think I'll be taking a class with this guy again.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I hated taking his class! The lectures are so boring and the quizzes are very hard because he doesn't do a good job of covering the material. Would not recommend his classes to any one

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I was not impressed at all in the first two weeks of class. Rick is very condescending toward students, treating us as if w are idiots and bashing differing opinions. The first class was a 3 hour rant against religion on neon, comic sans PowerPoint slides. When he's not yelling, he's putting us to sleep. No one could stay awake. I dropped ASAP!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Rick is a nice guy, however, his teaching methods are hard to grasp at first. Uses slides for lectures and goes through them too fast to take notes or even read for yourself. Gives quizzes that contain questions regarding to assigned chapter readings and lectures. If you want to pass, study his bullet points on his website, and reading are a must.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO8
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This lab class is from 7-10PM; it gets VERY cold. At the beginning of the semester you're given a packet to work on for the whole semester. Every class had no structure and you were pretty much left to figure out how to do everything. On rainy days we were inside a classroom doing other little labs. If you get cold easily, be sure to dress warmly!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO7
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took this class from 6-9PM which made it extremely difficult to pay attention to. He taught well enough and told the class what we needed to know for the quizzes. There are 5 quizzes, video quiz, final that make up your grade. Going to class is helpful for the quizzes but he also posts study guides online along with all of his PowerPoints.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO3
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Rick is a nice enough guy, but I didn't particularly like his teaching style. He uses powerpoints but barely leaves each slide up long enough to read the first few bulletpoints much less take notes. He gives quizzes pretty frequently, some I felt were pretty easy others not so much- not super consistent on that front. Not my favorite class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO7
• 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:

Rick is an amazing teacher, he is really witty and funny.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ASTRO4AND7
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Rick means well. If you ask him a question you will get an answer. Whether you get offended or not is no matter to Rick. He loves going off on tangents, and during one lecture, someone had to ask him to please get back to the material. The class is a waterfall of information presented in the most boring way. Up to you if it's worth the free A.