3.0
Quality3.6
Difficulty50%
Would Retake116
Reviews50%
Would Retake
116
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
36
4
17
3
7
2
18
1
38
What Students Say
“If you excel in physics, you would love him”
PHY131 - 1.0 rating“He did not teach us anything about the theory”
PHY131 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
50%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.16 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYA11
5.0
(1)PHY131H
5.0
(1)PHY224
5.0
(1)PHY250
5.0
(3)PHY205
4.2
(9)Difficulty by Course
PHY131H1
5.0
PHYA11
5.0
PHY324
4.8
PHY131
3.9
PHY131H1F
3.7
Reviews (116)
This new professor really teaches nothing in his classes. The examples we saw on his slides were much easier than the questions on the tests. The things that appear on the tests were never seen before. For example, he would ask you "how many hairs do you think the average female teenaged human has on her head?" This does not make any sense!!!
He doesn't teach anything in class. He expects you to learn the content at home before all the lectures and you spend the class time doing questions which are all super hard. No one understands what's happening during the lecture. You get homework every week which takes hours and is always harder than anything he teaches you. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROF.
Horrible prof. Wastes class time solving irrelvent trick questions that have nothing to do with Physics. Tests are very hard and are based on material never taught in class. He's a nice person but does not understand how to teach at all. Very unclear. Stay far, far away.
Lectures are useless and make you feel bad about yourself, don't try the textbook either it also makes no sense. He tries but really can't explain anything.
I have nothing to say to this guy. Thank you uoft for letting me hate so much about a person. Thank you, and you are welcome. Worst uni and the worse lecture ever.
Let me premise this with the fact that he is genuinely seems like a nice guy but truth is, I haven't learned anything from the lectures and it feels like the whole course revolves around trick questions. Every multiple choice answer will have the option of none of the above, as he enjoys including questions that are wrong in a way .
Hardest course. He doesn't know how to teach.
1. Very hard to get high marks in test. 2. Slides are only tricky questions 3. Results are not proportional to the work put into the course 4. Friendly and approachable guy
He doesn't know how to teach, his form is improper and his in-lecture examples are all over the place (no one can follow). He only ever does extremely difficult examples in class (those who already understand concepts may find these helpful but no one else does) and his explanations are horrible.
The lectures are useless but you have to attend. The test are extremely hard, especially for the multiple choice part. I always have no idea what is going on during the class and "tricky questions" are the only things presented in the class. Also, it is impossible to read his hand writing. Also, lots of tricky homework. Take at least two hr/week!!!
Baddddd
People witting these reviews are salty af. Having a good high school physics background, Brian's class was not difficult to succeed in. He explains things clearly, so if you don't understand something ask him in class instead of complaining about it after you write your test. You're paying for his help. So take it. He's a good guy and a good prof.
He is very smart and nice person. However, his expectations are out of our league. After getting all the good marks in high school, one is used to expecting good grades, I was not an exception. Taking PHY131 first year with Brian Wilson have destroyed my confidence : his multiple choice are brutal. Prepare to study hard or get destroyed on his MC.
He expects you to know everything before coming to class and does questions in most lectures, so lectures are useless, but you have to go because of iclicker marks. I had covered almost all of this in high school and still found it difficult to handle. Tests were ridiculous too. I loved physics before PHY131. Dropped PHY132 after taking this course
Smart. Tough graded.
great prof. most students were really dumb so my marks got boosted real high
His in class examples, although challenging, were excellent prep material and if you understood the concepts behind them you were in perfect shape for his tests. His MCQ were very conceptual and possibly challenging so make sure you have a good understanding of topics. READ AHEAD FOR LECTURES! He expects a basic understanding of topics he teaches.
Honestly not a bad prof. Listens well to criticism. His exams had low averages but he always curved up marks. In his office hours he answers all your questions beautifully so make sure to ask him. Always stays after class to answer questions. Make sure to read the material before lectures. Take Masteringphysics! Its tedious but very very helpful.
Nice and approachable prof. Expects you to know lecture material beforehand so make sure to read up and ask him stuff ur uncertain about (he'll always answer u and he gives great explanations and helps u learn, not just memorize). Tests were honestly tough but if you understood concepts you're all set. Past year Harlow tests were useless for prep.
Honestly, I think he was fooled by the physics department in at St. George.... He submitted his super hard tests to the physics department for evaluation, and they responded that the test was good and even a bit easier than normal!
make sure to avoid this professor. His tests are super hard and he only does hard problems in lectures .
GET READY TO READ FOLKS. He expects you to do your reading before coming to class, so he never covers any concepts in class. The only way to understand stuff was to read on your own and do tonnes of homework. Don't skip class bcos iclicker marks are vital to pass this course. Nevertheless, he looks very approachable, so go to his office hours.
Only showed up to class b/c of the clicker questions... lectures were not helpful at all!! I took HS physics before and did pretty well, but as a professor for an INTRODUCTORY course with no prereqs, he didn't explain a single thing. Passed this course based on previous knowledge. He only asks questions in class and doesn't explain theories.
Although he says research on his teaching style of only physics problems In lecture and not teaching any concepts is better than the traditional way of physics education, the students who are not brilliant at physics suffer a lot from his teaching style
He is a nice guy and tries very hard to improve his teaching methods. However, I just have to say that he does not how to teach an introductory physics class. I think if you are passionate about physics... then his class might be the one for you. For most people, his lectures were not helpful on learning the material and the tests are super hard.
Brian is meant for students who want to go in depth into physics and understands everything in he physics course without any help; however, Brain is DEFINITLY not for students who don't understand physics concepts by themselves (only does problems in lectures) or those who are not interested in physics (super hard questions on tests)
With his difficult tests and non-helpful lectures, He is the best GPA destroyer of all time
Wilson is for people who can self study physics (he gives additional knowledge from physics but not the course content) has GPA killer tests. If you excel in physics, you would love him. However, if you don't excel in physics, avoid his courses.
He expects every student to have a good understanding of concepts before the lecture begins. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good if you come in with a good understanding and his lecture furthers that understanding. Bad if you go in with a bad understanding as the lecture isn't going to help very much.
He expects every student to have a good understanding of concepts before the lecture begins. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good if you come in with a good understanding and his lecture furthers that understanding. Bad if you go in with a bad understanding as the lecture isn't going to help very much. He is available for Q's often thoug
Took him for first year physics. Honestly a really caring and passionate guy. I don't understand the other reviews here honestly. His first test average was a 73, and if you have even a mild interest in physics you'll enjoy his class. If not, you generally shouldn't be taking this course in the first place.
Had him for the first part of PHY131. The first term test was way too easy. It's not hard to get 100 on the first term test - if you took high school physics and did well in that, this class will be a breeze. He goes through a lot of examples in class, so you're expected to watch pre-class videos or read the textbook. Overall a great prof!
Tests by him are either too easy or too hard. Very unstable if you take courses under him
Professor Wilson is enthusiastic, however many students had issues with his teaching and assessment. He focuses mainly on special cases or harder to grasp concepts in lectures, which without a solid foundation in physics equates to a poor use of class time. Tests were a poor assessment of what was taught in class and in the pre class videos.
Enthusiastic and seems like a nice guy, but completely unclear and confusing. Often changes his train of thought mid-sentence and goes on long, pointless tangents.
My advice? Skip lectures and just read the assigned readings. They cover all the material covered in lecture as well as relevant material not covered in lecture, and they explain it way better.
I went into his lecture with a pretty negative opinion about him but honestly he isn't as horrible as I've heard. He puts a lot of emphasis on theories (explanations can be lengthy), but he covers everything he needs to. Definitely need to read textbook to have a basic understanding, but if you have specific questions he answers them well.
lectures are fast-paced and he tends to focus on difficult examples. his course requires you to work by yourself on the lecture, so sitting passively and expecting to learn isn't gonna work. with enough practice, this course is very doable. most negativity came from the first year where the midterm was un-expectedly hard with a really low average.
He did not teach us anything about the theory. You just come to class and do some hard examples without anything being taught. He expects all the students to understand the chapter first before class. Don't enter his class expecting to learn something new , cause he won't teach you anything about the Physics 131 syllabus other than doing examples.
Teaches high school physics like its next level material that no one understands. He is condescending with his idiocy and ignorance. He is that snarky kid asking questions trying to sound smart in your high school class (that everyone hated). Bad at teaching, basically only does problems in class at a horribly slow pace.
He basically doesn't teach us anything about Physics, we're just doing hard problems and trying to solve them, without knowing the fundamental technique of it. He expects all the student have learned and read the textbook before entering the class, so yeah be prepared for doing nothing other than discussing problem using his 4 step approach.
bad lecture, and didn't teach us the theory. wouldn't recommend to take him as your lecturer
not recommended , one of my worst lecturer
Great professor, the examples given during lecture are useful when doing post class homework. Very patient in answering questions.
honestly i dont even know what did he taught us in class. Basically nothing, just doing examples all over without any explaination in theory
If there's any other lecturer, please take him as your lecturer. Honestly, don't take this guy for those who want to pursue in Physics especially during their first year!!
Physics is fun and interesting, but this guy made it hard to understand as you'll be just doing examples all over the class
an unforgettably amazing professor! Had him for first year physics. Yes his tests are difficult, but he is one of the MOST patient and non-judgmental professors you'll come across. He won't move on in class until he's sure that everyone's on the same page, and super approachable and friendly in office hours! miss him at UTSC!! Thank you Dr Wilson!!
AMAZING! Really made me love physics! Ive always had bad physics experiences but he really made physics fun and clear to me! He breaks down the theories behind equations and concepts SO well! I hate being given the equation and being asked to use it. That's usually how most people learn and do physics and I cant! so im grateful he explained so much
before the semester begins I read the comments here and thought i was gonna get recked because i did bad in highschool physics. but i got the opposite! Prof Wilson knows to go into the basics before diving into tougher questions. He is also very caring about students :) overall his teaching made me interested in physics again!
A really nice guy! Does a great job working through examples. You have to learn the material on your own, however.
By far the worst professor I had in the semester. His lectures were NOT worth attending. If I hadn't already learned the majority of the content in high school, I would've definitely failed the half of the course he covered. All of the actual content had to be learned outside of class time. Not to mention, the heavy breathing over the microphone.
Professor Wilson takes the time to prepare students well for second year physics. I took his course in PHY152 and he uses techniques and methods which are outside our scope of learning but prepares us for a future in physics. Not so useful to pass first year courses, incredibly useful when we see more difficult problems next year.
Amazing professor! He was doing his best to explain stuff in both fun and understandable way, which only made his lectures so much better. Does all of the derivations and problems on the board, without posting these online, so that might be worth going to lectures for. Very inspiring and resourceful!
final is hard.
Prof. Wilson teaches the first half of the course and reviews the physics basics from high school (in a university setting). He is very caring and accessible in and outside of class. His lectures weren't terribly engaging, the in-class submittable questions were okay, however, he is a pretty clear speaker. It's important to review the material.
Had him for PHY131 in fall, PHY132 in summer. His lecturing and explanations have improved - he's like a 3.5 more than a 4 though. Still not great, but I think these courses are poorly designed in general. Does not deserve worse rating than Sealfon by any means. Brian is excellent to talk to after class and outside of class. Cares a lot
The final exam was unbelievably difficult, his lectures were useless.
I guess he is OK as a university professor but he is quite tough for most students who just came from high school. Do expect to make him teach you everything that may appear on the test paper, understand the concepts given in the lecture and you should be fine.
The lectures are completely useless. He just stands up there with his smug smile and does some "fun" demonstrations. I wanted to attend a lecture, not a magic show. Also, the midterms and exam are out of very few points- make one mistake and there goes your chance at a good mark.
Best prof ever!
Amazing professor, so approachable and generous!
He is sooooo nice!!!!! TAKE HIS COURSE!
right time to take his course!
Perfect professor, Love him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He is a very nice professor,who gives us a lot of bell curve as he promised. I think everyone can get an A in this course, if they have taken physics at high school. Highly recommended!
Easy going and very nice. If you're good with high school physics, take this course with him.
Doesn't explain anything about labs and has an office hour the day before the lab is due. The labs are poorly worded and even he himself doesn't know if the instructions are correct or not.
Not a good prof at all. He sucks at teaching but he is a very nice guy. You want to have him as your nice neighbour next door and not your professor lol.
Suepr hard exams. He tries very hard to screw your mark in the course. Worst prof ever seen. Choose him if you want a horrible learning experience and want to fail the course.
This professor literally don't teach anything. He expects you to understand everything and just hands you the project.
Prof Brian is very kind and good person, the kind of guy you'd want to be ur neighbour... But not ur prof. Lectures don't teach you anything and are very very boring. PHY151 is tough enough subject matter as it is, but Prof really doesn't teach very well. I feel bad saying this as he is very sweet and kind, but just not a great Prof.
Professor Wilson's office hours are full of great advice. He is very smart, but I felt he expected us to be on his level. He skips topics if he thinks people learned them in high school and does not teach any basics. The classes often just confused me more and the exams were very difficult, although I found the marks generous - others did not.
You can learn everything from reading the textbook on your own rather than trying to understand his confusing explanations in class. The only useful part about the lectures was the short comprehension check quiz at the end. Tests, homeworks and labs were marked with a lot of scrutiny and with bad feedback, so it was hard to learn from mistakes.
Prof. Wilson was accommodating with the marking scheme of the course: ~10% of course mark is participation and there is opportunity to make up 10% of each tests' grade with a reflection after each test. There were some issues with TA grading but prof. was able to correct that. Lots of office hours were available to help understand course content.
Incredibly kind and caring professor, always available to help students. The course was difficult with tough grading, but Brian Wilson is such a lovable guy that you will be willing to put in all the work. Make sure to read the textbook before each lecture if he is doing a 'flipped classroom' style, which will make for a better course experience.
Nice professor. Fair amount of work.
Great Prof overall, I attended all his office hours and lectures as they were so much fun and easy to understand. I wish I could take more courses with him.
Professor Wilson was absolutely excellent. The way he structures his class, tests, and problem sets is fantastic and really shows that he wants his students to succeed. He's also super kind and helpful if you go see him in office hours, which I highly recommend doing. After taking his class, I see him as the gold standard for physics professors.
Good prof for a first university course. He's caring, accessible outside class, answers students questions. His explanations could sometimes be a bit messy but overall he's a good prof!
Professor Wilson is a really nice guy however, PHY324 was so irredeemably disorganized and ill-planned this semester. The lack of consistency in the planning, marking and on-the-fly change of deadlines felt disrespectful and was inconsiderate towards the class. Really felt like the syllabus was useless as most of the course at his whims.
this prof is genuinely so great but the class itself is difficult. please attend his lectures as there are little questions here and there in every lecture that is marked as part of participation. his tests allow one full page of paper with whatever you want on it and he will curve grades if the average is below 60. hw is marked with much scrutiny.
Prof Wilson is amazing, PHY151 is pretty hard though
chill af. nice wholesome guy who's a blast in the classroom.
He's very energetic in lectures and office hours, and although lectures get fast, he records them and provides some good explanations in office hours. GO TO OH and rewatch his recordings.
Interesting problem sets
Good homework problems and extremely clear grading criteria regarding homework/tests/exam. Lectures are recorded. Responded to every student question on Piazza and during office hours. Tests were difficult, but every test average was calibrated up if it was too low. If you've done physics in high school, lots of the material is essentially review.
Lectures were energetic but he moved very quickly and didn't always highlight details. Test prep materials were few and far between and test averages were low - some questions were confusing and convoluted, no clear connection to course topics. Nonetheless, he made students passionate about the subject he taught, curved up test grades when too low.
He has many office hours, 5 hours a week.He is welcoming to help with homework, sometimes even show answers directly in office hours. His test is difficult. However, we have a second chance to submit a mulligan after test as an extra mark which will add directly to the final test result.
Very nice professor. Dedicated to his students, he spent an hour after each lecture answering students' questions. Very clear rubrics. PHY151 itself is a hard course; homework is relatively easy but not enough time is given for term tests (1 hour for 3 questions). Exam was fair; 3 hours for 6 questions.
Unreasonable grading of lab report. I feel like he deliberately lowers the score.
Brian is easy to go and patient, I'm a horrible at speaking english but he always encourage me to express my ideas. He explains everything in details with patience including my stupid questions. one of the best prof I've ever met
Explained the concepts clearly and pacing is perfect
Really sweet guy. Test questions are ridiculous (he makes us write blog posts) Pendulum assignment is brainrot. you don't learn anything useful and simply waste your time. Moreover, there is absolutely zero guidance on what to do. People had to literally look at upper year students' past submissions for guidance. The teaching is decent
Awesome prof.
I took PHY180 with this prof. The content is piss easy but he artificially makes the tests not just harder, but nonsensical. If you take his course you will get to know his 'modelling' questions. They don't teach you knowledge nor do they train your problem-solving skills. Worst thing? All his exams are based on these questions.
good prof who cares about his students and explains concept clearly
Midterms are modeling questions, blog questions, and numberless. We were given almost nothing to study off of, and no answer key, so Goodluck actually trying to study. Modeling questions were basically a "yap as much as you can and make wild assumptions" and they give you most marks.
Really nice guy, cares about his students. But the midterms and final are the WORST. he gave basically no study materials before the final, and since his tests don't include numbers you can't even use the textbook. Final exam was just a third midterm (6/8 questions were the last unit) 💀💀
Never seen anything quite like this guy. Good luck finding a single question involving actual numbers, let alone knowing what to do. Blatantly lied about the final being easier than his midterms (which contain "modelling questions" that basically make you guess all numbers and question everything youre doing).
great guy, but his midterms and finals were so bad...
Cool Professor, had some interesting "modelling problems" where you get to decide what variables are/are not given to you. They are actually easier than standard word problems since you get to decide how easy/hard you want to make the problem for yourself!
I don't like physics anymore......
Not good at explaining. Unreasonable tests. He would be a good English Teacher.
It's an intensive course, but so are all EngSci courses. Make sure to watch the pre-class videos and stay up to date on the assignments. He has great spirit, and always tries to make class worth coming to and reviewing. His exams were very stimulating and challenging, had a lot of fun.
He seems to genuinely care about students and makes a decent effort to support them, however, his lectures were very poor. I often had a hard time understanding what he was trying to explain. It was also quite challenging to study for tests given the little or lack of study material.
Absolutely the GOATed explainer. he subbed in today for the main 152 prof and turned out to be the GOAT at explaining things. Have no idea what a lot of PHY180 reviewers are saying...
Absolute GOAT professor. Made the material very accessible to everyone with very good explanations. Very approachable and has a sense of humour. The workload is very manageable; test was fair.
Fortunately/unofrtunately, if you get it you get it, if you don't you don't. So I guess you either love him or you hate him.
Professor Wilson is a passionate and dedicated instructor. His lectures can move quickly, but reviewing the recordings and attending office hours really helps. The tests are challenging, but he curves them if needed. I found Unstuckstudy and ChatGPT useful for preparing.
bad professor with chaotic plan and unreasonable marker
goated prof for 250
Good, friendly prof. For this class, attendance is mandatory if you want to get the 30% participation credit via in-class MathMatize quizzes. EM is an intrinsically difficult and non-intuitive subject; simply showing up to lecture wasn't enough. I learned best when I came to class and did the readings/extra practice problems in Griffiths.
Really great professor. The hate he receives is often a product of students frustrated over content instead of him. Really unique and fun exams. Content is heavy. He is always open to answer questions and explain things. Go to lectures and ask questions. Puts a lot of effort into teaching, and it shows. Possible to get a 100% on the lab report :)
I find the modeling questions fun, and I think they are a useful skill to have.
Brian Wilson is a very caring Professor, and he explains concepts fairly clearly during lectures. They are more like tutorials because he goes over practice problems and expects you to watch the pre-class videos. He gives out blog, numberless, and modelling questions, wildly different from high school physics, which I found a bit unconventional.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
50%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+1.16 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYA11
5.0
(1)PHY131H
5.0
(1)PHY224
5.0
(1)PHY250
5.0
(3)PHY205
4.2
(9)Difficulty by Course
PHY131H1
5.0
PHYA11
5.0
PHY324
4.8
PHY131
3.9
PHY131H1F
3.7