Marvin Marshak - University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Professor: Marvin Marshak

Department: TBD

College: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: 1301W
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's funny and has very helpful office hours, the only problem is this class as a whole is pretty tricky in my opinion. The mastering physics homework is practically impossible without chegg but if you have a good TA you should be fine

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: 1301W
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marvin is awesome. So many funny moments in the lecture throughout the semester. Lots of problems done in class, but often not great explanations.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: 1301W
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marvin is a great guy who adores all of his students. He makes sure that everyone passes as long as you somewhat try. His office hours usually give you answers to upcoming tests too. However, his lectures are sometimes hard to learn from as he just points at answers in his power points rather than explaining how he got them.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Small and wise, like yoda.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: 1301W
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

"This field is required" he's ok that's it

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY1301
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marvin is the sweetest person ever. While his personality is funny and absolutely hilarious, I found it impossible to learn from his lectures. He often mumbles, and he has obvious favorites. I highly recommend office hours.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Marshak is such a friendly, easygoing guy. The class tends to overwhelm people at first because the first test average is usually pretty low, but if you pay attention in lecture and don't cheat on the homework, he makes it really easy to do well. Hilarious jokes and really accessible for office hours/extra help.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

By far the best professor I have had so far. Incredibly engaging lectures, cares greatly for his students, and is absolutely hilarious. Once went out of his way to talk to me and give me motivational and life advice. He is the sort of guy to give the entire class a huge pep talk when quiz scores were low. Take classes with Marshak if you can. Best

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Marshak is a wonderful instructor and goes well out of his way to make sure his students are well taken care of. His lectures are problem-solving heavy, so the amount of effort you put into lecture will determine how much you get out of it. If you are ever stuck, he is great at answering questions in lecture and office hours. He is worth it!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: 1301W
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marvin is a great guy and even says himself "if you show up to class you will pass". Do the homework, do well in the lab section, and class clicker questions and it will help your grade immensely at the end of semester. Lectures are practice problem heavy and often includes random info for no reason, not a bad class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1301W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marvin is a great guy who cares about his students. This class is no doubt a difficult one but he is more than willing to help you through it. If you go to class and do your work you wont fail.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1301W
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Cool guy, very nice

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Physics for engineering was my least favorite class freshman year, but Marshak was my favorite teacher. I only went to office hours once, and although I didnt get to know him too well, I knew he still genuinly cared about me and everyone in the class!TBH if you go to class and do the weekly homework, getting a 70% average on tests will get you a B!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Didn't really fine Marshak approachable as a lot of these reviews say. I found his lecture slides a lot more useful than the actual lectures. If you pay attention to the example problems in many of his lectures a lot of those problems were on the midterms. Generous curve. Just found him decent.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If I had a chance to Rate Marshak as a person 5/5 but as a professor a 3/5 is generous. He gets sidetracked a lot and goes on rants rather than teaching the material, but there are a lot of videos out there that explain the material which is very helpful. But Marvin is a great guy and understands the college experience.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great guy, v funny. Lectures give a nice overview, nothing test level is explained well. Very approachable and extremely caring if you talk to him (aka letting me take a midterm I slept through). To get an A: be careful when doing hw, this is where tests are made, understand it actually. Lab is a joke. Pay attention in discussion.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Kind, funny guy but tends to gloss over material in lecture - skipping slides, doing demos without explaining them. Subject matter is tough but reading the book before class helps. Luckily, Marshak tends to curve heavily at the end of the semester and doesn't like letting students fail.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1301W
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Outside of class, Marshak is a wonderful person who wants to create a connection with every student. I admire that about him. On the other hand, his lectures arent the best so reading may be helpful. He sort of glosses over everything. The exams get progressively difficult. To keep your grade afloat, do Mastering Physics and the Clicker questions.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1301
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's funny and engaging during lecture, but most of the time in lecture is spent going through problems that are too advanced to ever be on a midterm or discussing some uber-lofty astrophysics concept that has caught his interest that week.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS1302W
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Had him for PHYS1301W and chose him again for PHYS1302W. Wouldn't chose him again but it's said he makes the curve work in a way so that people don't fail. Hard classes regardless of who you have. Highly recommend reading the book before lecture. Try and understand the MasteringPhysics, take all the practice exams, get help from him directly.