Waves, Optics & Thermodynamics

I did not know what to expect from this class when I first took it, because it is a one hundred level physics elective that I was taking for my major. However, I absolutely loved the professor and their teaching style. Professor Brumback is such an enthusiastic teacher who is very open to feedback from the class. Even outside of class, she is always very eager to help and is always excited to share anything that will help you through the class. One of my favorite professors and would take almost any class if she was the instructor.

I did not know what to expect from this class when I first took it, because it is a one hundred level physics elective that I was taking for my major. However, I absolutely loved the professor and their teaching style. Professor Brumback is such an enthusiastic teacher who is very open to feedback from the class. Even outside of clas …Read more

When I first signed up for this class, I wasn’t sure what to expect—it’s a 100-level physics elective I needed for my major. But I ended up really enjoying it, mainly because of the professor. Professor Durst is incredibly enthusiastic and creates an open, engaging learning environment.

This class was completely fine for a physics requirement. The labs were fun and I thought Professor Durst was really engaging and effective. His lectures were organised and recorded. The homework assignments followed from the lectures, and similarly the exams follow pretty much from the problem sets.

Durst constantly asks for feedback on exams, homework and generally how the course is going and then honors the feedback to change the course depending on what the students need. The labs are pretty long but interesting and I liked the format in an excel sheet. The exams were quite long but they reflected what we had learned in class and seemed fair if you did the work in class.

Durst is an excellent prof. During the harder times of our semester he was more than ready to give us flexibility, and even told us which labs would count and which ones wouldn't. Not to mention, he did revise our syllabus and grading metrics to accommodate to student feedback of how heavy the semester was. That said - PAY ATTENTION DURING LECTURE - there were certain math tricks and methods that he used maybe once or twice during lecture that were key for our exams.

Durst is an excellent prof. During the harder times of our semester he was more than ready to give us flexibility, and even told us which labs would count and which ones wouldn't. Not to mention, he did revise our syllabus and grading metrics to accommodate to student feedback of how heavy the semester was. That said - PAY ATTENTION …Read more

Prof Durst is super nice, but can be intimidating when teaching. He moves super fast and it is crucial that you pay attention in lectures. He records and posts lectures, so if you miss stuff in lecture you can go back and re watch the videos. The homeworks are pretty hard, but TA hours are super helpful. The exams are also hard, but if you understand the homeworks, they are manageable. Durst is chill with grades, he weighed the lowest exam score to 10% and dropped the lowest lab and homework grade.

Prof Durst is super nice, but can be intimidating when teaching. He moves super fast and it is crucial that you pay attention in lectures. He records and posts lectures, so if you miss stuff in lecture you can go back and re watch the videos. The homeworks are pretty hard, but TA hours are super helpful. The exams are also hard, but …Read more

I took this as a senior year hard STEM major, and did not struggle. Many concepts were taught in courses outside of said major. The exams weren't too bad, and the labs were very interesting, especially with optics!

Totally fine class. Understanding that most people were just taking it to get it done for the pre med requirement. Exams are very fair, problem sets are reasonable in length. Kind of a hodge hodge of topics.

I really like how Prof. Durst structured the course. Everything is explained really clearly. You can connect the knowledge at both micro and macro levels. Prof. Durst is good at relating theoretical knowledge with practical real-world use.

Professor was amazing and super organized. The teaching was very straight forward and easy to follow along. The course pace was perfect and easy to stay on top of work. Exams were reasonable and my opportunities to balance your grade, ex. labs, homeworks.

This is a good course however I would not take it if I did not have to. Professor Brumback is a fair grader however some of the exam questions were things that we had never seen prior to the exam. She also normally goes 5-10 minutes over during the lecture

I really enjoyed taking this class. The course offered a nice variety of topics, which kept things interesting, but moved at a pace that was not overwhelming. Professor Durst was really incredible and made lectures interesting and interactive. He was very generous with grades (grace period on most assignments, drop lowest homework and midterm grades, etc.) and his exams and homework assignments were very fair. He really went out of his way to set us up for success which allowed us to focus more on engaging with the course material, making for a very enjoyable experience overall.

I really enjoyed taking this class. The course offered a nice variety of topics, which kept things interesting, but moved at a pace that was not overwhelming. Professor Durst was really incredible and made lectures interesting and interactive. He was very generous with grades (grace period on most assignments, drop lowest homework an …Read more

Although the material of this class is dense and difficult, Professor Goodsell took the intimidation away from the subject. Her teaching style is very direct and she uses as many real life examples as possible to help assist learning. She was also very accommodating in office hours and she genuinely wanted students to succeed. I took this class for a pre-med requirement and I am very happy I was able to take it with Professor Goodsell.

Although the material of this class is dense and difficult, Professor Goodsell took the intimidation away from the subject. Her teaching style is very direct and she uses as many real life examples as possible to help assist learning. She was also very accommodating in office hours and she genuinely wanted students to succeed. I took …Read more

Definitely on the easier side for a physics course, but it felt to me as though Professor Durst knew that and purposely made the exams challenging to compensate. But still relatively easy to do well if you really understand the material and review your problem sets before the exams. The lab was a lot of fun and loved that there were no real lab write-ups after the class period! I found the lecture a bit boring but Professor Durst clearly tries his best to make it engaging, and he records everything so you don't necessarily have to show up to every lecture.

Definitely on the easier side for a physics course, but it felt to me as though Professor Durst knew that and purposely made the exams challenging to compensate. But still relatively easy to do well if you really understand the material and review your problem sets before the exams. The lab was a lot of fun and loved that there were …Read more

Professor Durst really cares about the material and explained it in ways which made sense. The class isn't too bad, as all exams are very similar to homework problems and therefore easy to study for. Only one homework assignment per week which usually took about 2 hours.

I took this course to satisfy my pre-med requirements. I am not a physics person, and I was a bit worried before going into this class. The exams are similar the homework and aren't horrible but also aren't particularly easy. In all, the class is doable if you put in effort. Though it is easier than other physics courses taught at Middlebury, that doesn't mean it's easy. Do the readings and the extra practice problems he gives and you'll do well.

I took this course to satisfy my pre-med requirements. I am not a physics person, and I was a bit worried before going into this class. The exams are similar the homework and aren't horrible but also aren't particularly easy. In all, the class is doable if you put in effort. Though it is easier than other physics courses taught at Mi …Read more

If you have the chance to take a class with Prof. Goodsell, DO IT. Not only does she have a knack for explaining confusing concepts, she is also one of the kindest professors out there. She is fantastic with accommodations and genuinely wants her students to succeed. While I wasn’t that interested in the course material, Goodsell made this class a pleasure to be in.

I really loved professor goodsell. She was lovely and enthusiastic. The workload was manageable and she was very accessible in office hours. Exams were doable and she was also great with accommodations.

This course had been great. It is WAY easier than other physics courses and really a no-brainer if you pay attention in lectures and study a little bit before exams. Also prof. Durst is a wonderful guy and clearly very passionate about his work.

Professor Durst was nice. The lab format and material is fun. The grading policy isn't great; 33% midterm and 33% final. The average on our first midterm was a 60%. Its hard to get an A in this course

This is the most relaxed of the three intro physics courses and has a relatively light workload. Prof. Goodsell is pretty easy on grading although there is quite a lot of homework. Labs are pretty easy and generally you can be out of lab early.

There were homework problem sets every week. There are also labs each week which are pretty interesting. The exams are not too difficult if you study for them. Sometimes there are demos that are related to the lectures during class time.