Steve Ellis - University of Kentucky

Professor: Steve Ellis

Department: TBD

College: University of Kentucky

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHY213
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Excellent teacher for those who actually want to learn. A lot of these kids want an easy A. Prof Ellis wasn't that guy! We need more professors out there who challenge kids because when they get in the real world they need to work for it!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHY242
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Say what you will about the class itself, but Dr. Ellis is a good teacher who genuinely wants his students to learn and will go out of his way to help if you ask for it.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The professor is not helpful. He interrupts lab time for 30 minutes just to talk about American which means you have to stay late in lab because you haven't finished your experiment. The lab reports are 25-40 pages long. Takes too much time and effort for only 17% of your final grade.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I thought that I was missing a part of this class entirely when I sat down to do the first lab draft. The experiments seem easy, and then he asks you to use math techniques you literally haven't learned. With all the work I had to do for this, it really pulled from my other classes. The only positive reviews are for his lecture, don't kill your GPA

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Ellis is useless. Horrible. Doesn't explain anything, and wastes 45 minutes of each lab talking about useless stuff that doesn't even pertain to the class. If you try to ask him questions, he tells you to go ask your TA. Worthless, but he's the only choice. Just ignore him in class, and talk to the TA if you need help.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The PHY 211 lab is easily the most time consuming lab I have had at UK and it is all due to Dr. Ellis' obsession with extravagantly long lab reports and error propagation in experiments. For 20% of your overall class grade, this lab will easily take 8 times the amount of effort the lecture (80%) does. If you don't get a good group you're sunk.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHY242
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The physics labs at UK aren't easy. Ellis makes me want to just pay for my degree, and I know that any new physics TA has to justify to him personally any students' grade that is above a B or below a C. This means it's likely you'll just get a B or C. Try to take the class with someone you know, it's all group papers. Awful experience.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is the worst professor at UK. AVAOIDAT ALL COSTS! Very rude and disorganized. He thinks he is clever and funny but he is not, he goes around in circles when explain. DO not take this class with him please.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

So, physics lab is as bad as people say. Ellis doesn't have a PhD so he has something to prove and overall makes the lab manual and the whole class intentionally unclear. Get a decent TA who will tell you how to structure things. You don't see Ellis much except if you go to office hours which are actually pretty helpful.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Ellis is a strange guy. You will only see him a few times over the semester, so pray for a good TA. His office hours are somewhat helpful, but other than that he is clear as mud. This class is impossibly hard and you'll spend ridiculous hours on each lab. However, if you show improvement in time, he will help bump your final grade up.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: 241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Pros: He always gave time to his students in the morning (however very early to me). He would always let you go into the lab. He was helpful-ish to you. Cons: Any computer stuff on Excel he was no help for it all. His skeptic videos were so cloudy it was so hard to really know what to do. Will call you out. Tip: Be Skeptic First Lab

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: 241
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Don't get me wrong, I like group projects. I'm a junior Biology and Chemistry major so I know labs and lab reports. I'm getting an A in the physics lecture. I'm a good student and so were my lab partners. But please, take this elsewhere. Extremely vague instructions and he expects too much for what the equipment can even do. TAs are mostly clueless

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I didn't have him for lecture but he also oversees all lab sessions and they are ridiculous. Be prepared to put in at least 12-15 hours per week working on your lab reports (15-66 pages). I don't mind hard work but when my other classes are suffering because of a 1 credit hour class, something is not right. Ellis himself is loud and rude. MURICA!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS242
• 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:

Lab report expectations are unclear and nonsensical. Quizzes in lab are from what the TA's lecture which may be unclear because the TAs often have poor English. Ellis loves America and patriarchy ("obey the way of the waxed mustache and you will do great things for America"). Worst lab I have ever taken and I'm a grad student. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• 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:

I had the WORST experience with the lab portion of this class!!! It was a nightmare! So much was expected for the lab reports! I would spend hours and hours each week working on the lab reports when I had 4 other classes to think about. I highly recommend not taking 211 at UK!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHY211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Had a horrible experience with this lab. The amount of work required for a 1 credit hour lab is unreal and it caused my other grades to falter as so much time was devoted to this lab. Avoid this guy at all costs

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was entirely too much work for a one credit hour class. It is many times unclear what exactly is expected and how to do many of these expected things. Also like me, your TA may lose your grade for a prelab or quiz which means you get zero points for that assignment even though they lost it. Have fun, take this at BCTC.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is a joke and entirely too difficult. Its unreasonable how you are required to do partial derivatives (Calc 3) but the only pre-rec is Calc 1. Spent 18 hrs in one week just doin my part of the paper. Just plain ignorant for a 1 hour course.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHY213
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The mustache rules all. Obey the word of the one supreme ruler, physics rangers, and you will do great things for the United States of America.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHY241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class embodies everything that is wrong with college. You're forced to work with students who are clueless, don't care and actively get in the way. There is absolutely no instruction or valuable feedback given. Your education is NOT important. If your goal is to better your understand of physics, stay as far away from this class as possible.