2.6
Quality3.3
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake108
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
108
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
22
4
14
3
17
2
22
1
33
What Students Say
“He doesn't really give notes, he just does mostly examples”
PHYS109 - 5.0 rating“This guy should diver into a new career”
PHYS109 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.36 avg changeRatings by Course
119
5.0
(1)ASTR100
5.0
(1)109
4.5
(4)PHYSICS
4.0
(8)PHYSASTR
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PHYS111
5.0
PYS109
4.0
ASTRO100
4.0
PHY109AST
4.0
P
4.0
Reviews (108)
No Comments
He doesn't really give notes, he just does mostly examples
This guy should diver into a new career!
No Comments
makes the class interesting because you can tell he's excited about astronomy
No Comments
dive,dive,dive...watch your average drop!
KNows his stuff. Always willing to help. The class is easy for physics
excellent knowledge of subject, easy to follow
Excellent prof, and a really nice guy
Too involved in his own physics world to come down to the students' level.
If you can read minds, you'll do fine...he should stay in the lab.
No Comments
he is hard to understand and is not approachable.
a big stickler for work, but not as much as gabe
small examples, difficult accent, easy to talk to alone, decent prof. useful ie
Lacks organization and seemingly knowledge of modern physics as well
Much, much better than Gabe. Very willing to help confused students understand
The class was pretty easy (as far is physics is concerned) until the final.....
No Comments
I don't know how he ever got a physics degree. He's terrible at math and gets lost in the smallest equations. Can't seem to do calculus at all...
No Comments
nice guy, easy marking
Good for entertainment value (accent and the way he dresses) not so good for teaching. I can never talk about Physics without using the Gary Diver accent. He's really scatterbrained and unorganized and he possibly has an inferiority complex.
This guy is a very bad professor. he is very unorganized and not to mention his accent makes it hard for him to understand. and his handwriting is horrible. run, run as fast as u can!!!!!
annoying to the max!!!!! he is hard to understand, writes at 100km/hr, and the examples you can actually get down in your notes are useless half the time. ~don't forget yur frey bady di-agrams.
bad teacher, don't take this class with him, take it with someone else, examples don't help at all. If you want to understand physics, jsut read the textbook, way better source of information.
Geeary Diver. What a guy. Accent drove me nuts. Where is this guy from anyway? Try to figure that out. If you can write 200 words a minute, you'll be fine. If not, you might want to consider a prof who goes a little slower and explains himself better
He was a terrible teacher. He gave us hell for not showing all steps in questions and then wouldn't show them in his teaching.
Okay, here's the low-down from someone who knows. We're not sure how Gary got his Ph.D. He can't even teach the higher level subjects that he was hired for (on a five year contract no less, but 4 down!) And fyi, it's not an accent, it's called nerd-speak.
Very unorganized (one trip to his office says it all). Scribbles when he writes notes down, you can't even read most of it, I kid you not. Fair marker though. Lectures are very fast, too fast, you don't understand most of it because it's too fast.
Understood everything in HS... 2 years later didn't understand it since lectures were too fast to understand. Lost a bunch of the midterm marks and didn't say anything. Posted final marks have a lot of blanks in the midterm column. Check your mark!
Helpful hints for those unsuspecting 1st year students.You see the name Gary Diver on your class list RUN!.His notes are like another language and even though this boy is a genius he don't know how to bring it to an understanding level. Cool class though
If you are in his class you had better be able to write fast. He has extremely horrible writing which is very hard to read. He sucks as a teacher, he doesn't explain any of his work. If you have to take Physics do not take it with Diver no matter what.
I thought that after teaching for two years he might have developed better organizational skills. I was sadly wrong. He has gotten worse, and what's more, he has gotten upset with students giving him attitude for wasting his time with questions.
Could his teaching "skills" be any worse?!!? He went through the material WAY to fast, and he made up the questions as he went along. BAD hand-writting. Horribly unorgainized. He is smart, but he is unable to "dumb-it-down" eno
asked for help, and he made me feel stupid...not approachable...teaches basic concept, then expects you to be able to apply it to the hardest situations...wouldn't recommend
You can not describe this course! He makes such a mess of lecturing, teaching, and grading. This man loses people's midterm marks, and assignments. He has not even posted our final marks yet, 3 weeks(+) after the exam. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE FROM HIM!!
Honnestly, this guy is like the professor from the Simpsons <glovin> - while he's hilarious to watch(facial features and all) I can't tell you that I understand or can retain anything that comes outta this guy's mouth. Be prepared for some self-teac
I am really surprised to see all of the bad comments about this guy. Sure, he isn't the best lecturer, but he is fair with his tests and he is very willing to help when you don't understand. I was impressed by his enthusiasm for Astronomy.
This was the worst class, i don't remember one class that i could stay awake through. He is not approachable after class and he made astronomy a subject i now despise.
He is not the best teacher, but he is a great person. If you try in his class and go to his office for help regularly, he does help alot. He actually did my astronomy questions for me! I got 90% in both of his classes.
you can't read anything he writes
Do NOT take a class from him. he doesn't explain anything you need to know and just spends the lectures writing stuff you can't decipher about stuff you'll never need to know. BAD PROF!!!!
So far so bad.
No Comments
If you want to pass physics don't take the class from Gary Diver.He can't teach and he doesn't even teach.He scribbles whatever on the board and gives you a load of home work you can't solve.If you want to survive Physics 109 at the UofR,NEVER take that course from Diver.
not great!:( he can't teach! he can only "relay concepts!" why is he lecturing? he was not very helpfull when I went to his office and 1/2 the time I cant read what he writes (ie. caz is car)
Horrible prof. Seems to hate teaching; smirks at little things that only he finds funny; inaudible; indecipherable; all overheads and they don't make sense--never leaves them up long enough; hard assignments, even the lab instructor had difficulty with them. Mid-term impossible, but the final isn't
No Comments
Horrible prof. I learned more from my textbook. Assignments are long,hard,&annoying - unfairly marked depending on the TA. Smart prof but can't explain his concepts. writing is illegible. such a bad prof i'm not taking physics 119 from him-avoid this man if physics is not a strong subject for you
He is the exact definition of the type of prof that is only a prof so he can have a place to do his research. I think he actually hates young people. Brilliant man but he needs to take a course on how to TEACH
Brutal, might as go to class just to get assignments. I taught myself by using the text book, his lectures are boring and pointless.
Went for help on my assignment and he yelled at me. Need I say more?
I found as long as you paid attention in class his lectures were helpful. He is a very intelligent man. He provided great explanations and examples in class. I thought he was a good teacher. I think the majority of the people who are not good at physics gave him a bad review.
Terrible prof. Terrible. Made life very difficult for me and others. Can't teach. If you are taking physics 109 DO NOT take it from Diver.
If your in for a nervous breakdown, then this class is the one to take. The Assignments are death, and there is like 10 of them. Diver is a friendly person, but has NO time to answer your questions. Some people in the class were yelled at for asking him leave the overhead notes on. Midterm:( Final:/
The man needs to learn to teach.Cant read his writing or understand him if you even bother going for help. But he is a fair marker though, so if you know general concepts, you'll pass.As for the assignments.. you'll need plenty of spare time!
HORRIBLE. Unfortunately U of R has no other physics proff. IF possible, do not take from him... mean, hard, stumps himself.
HE IS EVIL, avoid him at all costs!!!
I don't know why everyone hates Gary so much. He is hilarious. Lectures are interesting and they make sense. Assignments are a bit of a bugger but its physics so they're bound to be. Maybe if people were nicer to him he'd be nice back.
I thought he was an alright prof. He didn't really teach that well, but he was always willing to help out with assignment questions.
No Comments
lecture isn't that bad but if you go to him for help...do expect any help AT ALL.
Diver is an unhelphul jerk. Seriously I had a highschool average of 95 and I came close to failing this class. If you go for help he will make you feel like an idiot and almost make you cry. He should not be a prof. here, he is a jerk plain and simple...avoid at all costs
The worst prof ever!!! He makes up his own solutions to problems, doesn't explain how he got there, he writes really fast and you have to watch really close you see what hes doing.. if you ask him to slow down he snaps at you that you should pay attention and not talk even if you are sitting alone!
Awesome prof. What are you complainers talking about. You want to end up in McDonalds or something? Please ... this is university, you work hard. You have to try your hardest, and understand that physics courses require more effort. I found him to be a great professor and got an awesome mark.
No Comments
please do not listen to all the complainers, I imagine they dont do their work and just lazy around expecting great marks to just come by easily. he is an amazing professor who is always there for help and teaches great
Class was a bit hard, but nothing impossible. He teaches great, I dont know why people are complaining, sure, some of the topics require extra effort, but it is not impossible.
Class is a bit hard but not impossible. Challenging material is the description .. even though the material was hard, it was not impossible, but was interesting, and the profesor taught it in a clear and understandable manner. I have no clue why people complain. good grief........
certainly a most interesting class, the prof. teaches great, although the course is very dense, what i mean is that theres so much stuff coevered in so little time. Some things are confusing ...(what on earth is kinetic friction static friction??). Not a hard class, lots of stuff, but manageable
Bestprof ever
I cannot believe the complaints. I just dont see what is so hard about this class. He is an excellent professor and teaches well. I did think material was a little too challenging especially some of the earlier topics, but nothing impossible.
interesting ... people are complaining, I do not know why, this had to be one of the best classes I ave ever been in. Material was challenging and insightful, not difficult and impossible. Overall, a great class
Best class ever
Topics were hard and class asks a lot of your time and attention. I found the prof to be great. Needs to go a little slower on the material, but he is friendly and usually there for help. A lot of stuff is covered in the class, so I think that made the class seem really hard.
He teaches out of the textbook and doesn't give too many additional examples (that are really needed). Sometimes it was not worth going to class at all. This class is hard because of the amount of material covered. And his tests are fairly difficult.
There is a lot of material in this class and that is what makes it difficult. However, I thougfht that the class was well taught. His assignments are hard but force you to think and thus be prepared for exams.
There needs to be more insight into the problems. There is simply too much material in this course to cover in one semester. If one needs to fully understand a certain problem, one needs time. But it all depends on how much time you have I guess. I am sure with time and effort one could get a good mark in this class.
Definately an awesome prof, knows his stuff really well and maeks physics interesting and easy as possible to understand.
Bravo! Superb and easy class.
I disagree with the persoin below. The problem is that no one is studying. I find it ridiculous that people would actually blame someone else for their problems. I took his class and it was a great class, he was very helpful. I thought the class would have been easier if there was less material.
Most def recommend him. made me switch my major from philosophy to physics. really cool guy who helps you when you need help.
Well, what do you expect, its physics, it takes effort to get a good mark and it can be expected that some concepts will be hard. I see no real reason to complain. I found this class rather challenging, but uninteretsing. Professor teaches good, but needs to slow down the pace. Good class overall. You get out of it what you put into it
Absolutely fantastic class!!!
best class evar...Really fun and you pick up a lot of critical thinking skills along the way.
two words: very boring! if you didn't get a good night sleep the night before, then you can get a few Z's in his class. it's not like you are going to much if you do fall asleep... he'll explain it again the next day, and the next.... and the next.... and the.........
Super boring class. I will never take a class from him again. I could never figure out what he was talking about. He has horrible writing.... I never knew what symbols he had written.
Typical stereotype of a physics prof. But seriously, he is a fair marker, if you try and follow the correct steps and still get a wrong answer, you can still get a good mark. Makes strange symbols and writes his r backwards, so it can be confusing to take notes. Highschool phys saved me at times, but it could have been alot worse!
Warning! Whatever you do, do not take physics 109 from him. The worst prof I've had during my completion of 3 degrees. Written and verbal communication is unclear. If you ask for help, you get none in return. Unless you are a science major he could care less about anyone else. Maybe I should have wore my pocket protector to get fair treatment.
its a tough class but he's a good prof. pretty decent with marking and very approachable guy.
Worst prof ever
Diver is like a super human cyborg that was sent to earth to confuse students. As a physics prof - terrible... as a science nerd - such a nerd he is almost cool. Oh man
On my course evaluation I wrote that Gar-bear should be fired. I don't think he's teaching anymore...
not a fantastic teacher, needs to give more examples but is WAY better in a small class setting. i think he's just intimidated by a large group. he settles down and is a great guy in a smaller class.
No Comments
Worst physics teacher ever....... My advice to you if you get stuck in his class buy the text and skip his lectures and read it and go through the examples. In his lectures he reads the text book to you and do the exact same example problems out of the book that are already worked out.
Confused me even with stuff I already knew
He was an OK prof. I mean, sometimes he wasnt very clear and sometimes he moved on without realizing no one understood but hes a good guy and if you make an effort to stop him he'll do his best to help you out. Class was a little boring but it was really easy, i got an 85, so that made up for it. I wouldnt mind having him again
Doesn't understand a lick of physics
The first half is pretty easy but the last half is insanely hard. He gives out so many handouts though. He uses PowerPoint and puts them all on WEbCT so you can always look back. The questions and material on his assignments we are not taught until the next class. But the labs are real easy but real cold if you have to go outside.
Kind of a boring class, but he is very clear on topics and explains things many times. It's always interesting to see what khaki and shirt combo he will have.
Poor quality teaching. There is no organization of any kind involved with this class or lab. He shows children's videos! 'Cause we're such dumb undergrads we wouldn't be able to understand the information coming from a professor...
Personally I enjoyed Dr. Diver. He was fair in his assessments and was usually pretty helpful. I suppose he was a tad boring, but I think that was due to the subject matter.
I've been avoiding any phys classes since I barely passed gr.11 phys with 50%.But it was a core course I couldn't escape.Dr. Driver is amazing as he saved me from being a "F" Student to "A+"!!! Highly recommended!!
He's an interesting fella. I'm not sure what to make of his class, but it's not bad. The only thing that bothers me is that the class and the lab are not coordinated. This sure be arranged better.
Gary is a very approachable guy if you have any questions.. which you will. Lab and class are not coordinated. Gary is a seasonal and is not the usual prof for astronomy but he genuinely loves science
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.36 avg changeRatings by Course
119
5.0
(1)ASTR100
5.0
(1)109
4.5
(4)PHYSICS
4.0
(8)PHYSASTR
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PHYS111
5.0
PYS109
4.0
ASTRO100
4.0
PHY109AST
4.0
P
4.0