2.0
Quality3.6
Difficulty40%
Would Retake102
Reviews40%
Would Retake
102
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
3
4
17
3
8
2
35
1
39
What Students Say
“He should not be teaching at the University of Washington”
PHYSICS115 - 1.0 rating“Honestly, Reid wasn't nearly as bad as I expected”
PHYS115 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
45%
Textbook Required
96%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.04 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYS115
3.0
(9)PHYS221
3.0
(2)PHY121
2.5
(2)PHYSICS115
2.5
(2)PHYS114
2.4
(8)Difficulty by Course
PHYS121A
5.0
PHYS121B
5.0
PHYSICS121
5.0
19460
4.0
PHYS228
4.0
Reviews (102)
He's funny at times but, a terrible teacher. His lecture puts you to sleep most of the time and it doesn't really help. During one midterm, a student asked him for clarity on a midterm and he couldn't clarify and his excuse to not clarify was "well that's why you're here for", I'm pretty sure he doesn't even write the midterms. Avoid at all costs.
lectures are pointless. your time will be better utilized studying the material on your own. this class demands very little (no clicker questions, 5 h/w problems per week). tests are conceptually easy but his curve sucks. all the other physics prof's give 4.0's to the top 8-10%, but this guy allows only the top 5%.
No Comments
If you go to his office hours to ask questions, he'll answer them incorrectly. None of the equations used in lecture are ever seen in the homework (tycho). The hints in the tycho problems he posts refer to equations which aren't even in the book's index. He can't teach at all. He doesn't allow notes on tests. Avoid at all costs.
AVOID AT ALL COST. This professor was really suck. He spending a lot of times running circuit demo, which can be spend on clicker question. Personally, I think he is a pretty nice guy. But he CAN'T TEACH AT ALL. He dont allow notees on exams. To summarize, AVOID AT ALL COST.
Very boring lectures. Easy exams if you study, but can be long. I agree, not very helpful when you ask him questions, but he allowed notes on exams in my class.
Seriously, you should AVOID this teacher no matter what. He doesn't know how to teach whatsoever! When you go to his office hours he gives you wrong answer, excuses and anything but an explanation. His tests are hard and he doesn't allow notes. Never Ever in my life have I ever had a teacher this bad.
He cannot teach, he doesn't know how to explain things, he spends a lot of time on the demos that are pretty pointless, he makes up a lot of excuses. His class is okay, he makes the test so that you can't finish in time. There was no clicker questions in this course. 5 homework questions per week. His tests are relatively harder then the homework.
I don't know get why some people say Reid is hard for 114. His multiple choice questions are straight from the book problems, and his two short answers are relatively easy as well. Although he may not be very helpful, as long as you study and do the book problems, you'll ace the tests!
Terrible, terrible, terrible. Avoid at all costs as everybody else says. If you already took the plunge, rely on the book - the guy can't teach jack s***. His curves are crap, no notes on exams and he gives you a sheet of formulas which is completely useless. Very bad teacher overall, avoid at all costs.
His lectures are pointless it's like he is just reading his notes to himself. Also he refuses to even give the equation sheet or a test so we have nothing to figure what to study.
Absolutly horible teaher. Never clear about what he was doing and lectures almost never helped with the homework in any way
He's not a very good teacher. I went to him during his office hours for some help on homework and realized my mistake. He was rude to me and did not help at all. Furthermore he gives out "extra assignments" with problems that even he couldn't solve. The tests aren't too bad just really long.
Examples make no sense, moves through material too quickly. Explanations leave a lot to be desired. Cannot answer questions without changing what has been asked. Changes clothes maybe every two weeks, lack of hygiene seems to correlate to his interest in the course. Good demonstrations.
i liked him. tries to be helpful as much as possible, cares whether or not students learn, is passionate about the subject that he is teaching. good demonstrations
Stares at board while lecturing, ignores student questions, says 'theta' with an R. Avoid at any cost, even changing majors if necessary
This guy is terrible. He absolutely does not care about students learning. He wears the same nasty sweater every single day. Don't bother asking him for help on homework, he will tell you that helping you is 'unethical'. I will be complaining to the chair of the physics department about this guy. What a waste of money.
Not really as bad as people make him out to be. Yeah you're gonna get lost if you don't read the book or stay up on the material. Class is just too fast to get behind and be able to catch up. Textbook reading is basically mandatory. Good homework problems. Teacher doesn't give a lot of time to ask questions but lectures are pretty useful IMO.
stares at board while teaching the class.
I am shocked that James Reid is allowed to teach by the UW physics dept. There are so many other great physics professors(Olmstead, Lubatti,Yaffe,Rosenberg, Rothberg,etc.)and IMO Reid makes the department look bad with his horrible attitude towards students and teaching. Everything bad here is true. He shouldnt be allowed to teach further classes.
He does wear the same clothes everyday... If you read the book you really dont need to go to class unless you are interested in seeing random demonstrations. He basically stares at the board the whole hour, writing exactly what the book says. really REALLY boring, and he reminded me of vernon dursley from harry potter, looks and accent :P
James Reid is extremely pretentious. He feels that he is superior to the students and shows it through the effort involved in teaching students. His usual response to questions is "it's easy" as if everyone already knows every answer to every question without the help of the paid professional that is supposed to teach the class.
He does not know how to solve his own problems. When you ask him how to do a problem he tells you that the math is right and thus you should already know how to do it. p.s. his eyes don't work correctly. p.p.s. he never changes his sweater.... its quite intimidating....
Professor Reid is very straight forward and writes down most of the equations you will need in order to do HW. His demos are interesting. I've never been good at physics, so it says a lot that I'm getting a high grade in this class. The fact that he wears the same clothes is irrelevant. Trust me, there are harder professors out there.
The guy under me does not know what he is talking about. After finding out how easy his first midterm was, he made the last two much harder. When students asked for solutions or answers, he says he has no time, yet half of his lectures , he wastes time by giving us 5 minutes for EACH clicker question. Many times, lecture is dismissed early
Prof Reid is not the hardest but I have to agree he is straight forward if you take notes. A lot of times he gives too much time for a clicker question but people complain if there is not enough time also. Class is dismissed early because students get up when he's still talking. Overall Prof Reid is reasonable. Keep up with hw and you will do fine.
He does not post any sample midterms or midterm answers so you don't know what to expect on them. His lectures are extremely boring and the only reason to go to them were for clicker questions and equations for the homework. The class is not hard but the way he taught the class made it harder than it should've been.
Lectures add little to information from the book. James Reid refuses to answer student questions outside of class (via email OR in person) and loves to explain that he "simply does not have time" to expand upon lectures or post materials to the class website. Lousy, self-absorbed, condescending. I kinda like his sweaters, though.
He is really bad at teaching and shouldn't be teaching at the UW. Exams are not related to what he teaches in class. He doesn't answer properly to students' questions.
He can't teach. It's as simple as that. All he does during the lecture is derive the same equations that can be found in the book. You can spend half the time reading the book and get the same exact information (and that's saying something since the book is pretty bad too). Same clothes every day, boring, unengaging, and likes his demos too much.
This guy will tell you all the ambiguous stuff to study one day prior to your midterm. He certainly acts in that manner, and later if you ask him, "why did that appear on the test?" he will go "you should know that stuff. It was on the prelecture, it was on the formula, common sense" stuff like that. Avoid him.
He was not that bad as others think. I like his notes as he wrote everything down on board very clear. The demos were interesting and the clicker questions were easy. Prior midterms, he always give some hints on what to study and the practice questions that he emphasized will be on the exam. Ask questions immediately after classes helps.
Most people are correct. He is very bad at explaining things and likes to use the term "obvious" a lot. He will say an answer is obvious and so he won't explain it. He is an expert on this, we are not, so it is not obvious to us. He also speaks in variables rather than terminology and refuses to do examples with actual values.
He's not that bad. It's true, he wears the same ugly sweater every single day, and the lab technician is basically his b*tch which is pretty entertaining, but that doesn't make the class harder. Lecture is dry, but so is the material. He's pretty linear with his teaching which I like, read the textbook before lecture and you'll be fine.
tests are generally easy if you study on a regular basis or if you use adderall. lectures are boring but useful if you can manage to pay attention. its better to learn during his study sessions that he has almost every day than to learn from lecture, but he does have clickers.
His lectures are focused, and he writes all the equations out and gives some sample problems, but if you don't understand it past that, you're in trouble. He likes to insult people rather than answer questions - in fact in the middle of asking a question or explaining your context, he will probably cut you off and say it's obvious.
Absolutely wonderful person, he is always very nice and really cares about his students. HOWEVER, you all should keep in mind that he is only "snippy" when you disrespect him. Don't be late to appointments, don't interrupt him, and don't expect to be treated special above everyone else. He is very fair.Actually learn the materal, and you'll be fine
His accent is fun, but other than that lectures are boring. He draws good diagrams and gives example problems, but he does move from point to point rather quickly. We regularly finished lectures at LEAST 5 minutes early. Lectures are not enough for this class - they DO NOT cover all of the material and he doesn't like answering questions in class
He deserves a much higher score. His lecture is really helpful and he is willing to answer students' questions. Take his class after you learn integration then you will find it is easy to understand his demonstration. Remember doing Smartphysics before lecture so you will know what is going to be discussed.
So let me tell you...this guy is always in a rush and never has time to talk after class. He was disrespectful to student's questions by cutting them off mid way and saying "that's obvious". Also, he derives equations instead of teaching you how they are relevant. His practice midterms are helpful. He gets really excited about his demos.
I found that he is willing to answer student questions and usually has a very good, helpful response. It just may be hard to get his attention sometimes. I found his lectures very helpful, and his enthusiasm for phys very contagious. He not only fully explains every equation, but also provides a demo that quantitatively proves the phys--very cool.
Not sure why his ratings are so low. Do the hw and study for the exams and it is very easy to do well in this class. Lectures are very straightforward and helpful, demos help illustrate all concepts. Would highly recommend taking 115 from Reid. Exams are straightforward and resemble all hw and practice problems. No trick questions.
Let's be frank, the following are things that Jim Reid does NOT do: brush his teeth, change his sweater, have more than 3 sweaters, answer student's questions, show examples. He DOES: get excited about demos, have a condescending british accent, and hates you! good luck!
I had heard awful awful things about this guy, and sadly-they all turned out to be true. He simply reads from the textbook and proceeds to spend the entire class deriving formulas, but gives no context for how they should ever be used. The only thing you'll learn in this class is that UW doesn't have enough money to hire capable instructors. FAIL.
He adds test questions on topics not covered in class! Awful, mean teacher who ignores students who try to ask questions in class! Avoid at all costs!
Took his mechanics course at NSCC. The lectures are useless, he really does just derive formulas straight out of the textbook, regularly pausing to check how they did it. Blew through full chapters in under an hour - and it was a 3hr lecture class. Most of the class time was not used for lecturing; I taught myself mechanics this quarter.
Worst class of my life. The last midterm average was a 52%.
If you are a science major, you have to take this class. Do not take it with this professor. He writes horribly unfair tests due to laziness, does not take questions during lecture, and seems to not care about if the students learn or even pass.
Very difficult to learn from. Most of lecture is spent deriving equations from the book, which you will never be tested on. Learning to apply the concepts is done almost entirely on your own, through the textbook, which is very frustrating as the textbook is a mess as well. He is also terrible at answering questions, both in and out of class.
In my experience taking the physics series, all of the teachers haven't been very helpful. Reid however is basically average. He's not terrible like everyone says, but then again I just read the book for the entire physics series to learn anything. His equations sheets suck however but get a hold of his past exams to do well.
Please never never never take his course. If you make any mistakes, he will show no respect to you. I highly highly do not recommend his course. Poor everything in his course.
I did not recommend his course. Really bad.
He will insult students if someone ask him question. His attitude is really really bad. He will show no respect to students. SO PLEASE DO EVERYTHING TO AVOID HIS COURSE. And he should not be allowed to teach in UW anymore.
Hes really not that bad...if you do the hw and read the book youll be fine. His midterms were somewhat hard but he does pull exact questions from the end of the chapter problems. Midterms were half multiple choice half free response but the final was all multiple choice. If you really do put in the effort you should do above avg.
CONS: 1) he drones on, 2) his writing on the board is hard to follow, 3) he has been wearing the same atrocious diamond sweater for years and you can tell by the holes under his arms, 4) he did not tell our class about Midterm 2 or what will be on it, 5) doesn't answer questions, 6) when he does answer questions, he is rude. PRO: 1) he likes demos.
He's a solid professor, and you will do well as long as you learn the material. Reid is somewhat old fashioned in that he doesn't post much online, and doesn't really provide details about exams. Don't listen to these whiners, this is college- you shouldn't have a little hissy fit when your professor doesn't coddle you. Great demos!! :)
Yes, it is true that you can learn the material with him as your teacher. But it will be despite his teaching, not because of it. He is condescending, makes no effort to work with you (right down to something as small as requesting scratch paper on an exam, since you can't bring your own), and he wears the same sweater every single day. Gross.
I worked extremely hard in this class and managed to scrape a 3.0. He goes over complicated derivations in class and expects you to know each and every one of them because on his exams, he will test on material you never practiced (but that he went over once in class). I relied on my book a lot because he simply overcomplicates the material.
he is horrible and rude!!! the worst class I've ever take
He always came across as a professor who didn't want to be stuck with low level students. He was rude and rather unhelpful. I'm a physics major and I couldn't stand this guy. Avoid him if you can.
Umm... Not as bad as people below said. Definitely not an easy class. Lectures were dry...
Has no idea how to teach and selects the most difficult homework problems that take the physics tutorials over 30 minutes to solve. Very annoyed at having to answer questions in class. Doesn't provide any practice exams, which are mostly multiple choice. And the physics department is just annoying in how they purposefully make the class difficult.
Do not take this class. Worst professor ever!
The class was difficult but that was because of the material. However, the teacher was not that bad! Sometimes he goes a little too fast and you will need to read the book when that happens. Do a lot of problems from the book because the exams are real hard!
Terrible professor. He does not know how to create lecture material nor does he care about your learning. He is also very rude and cuts people off mid sentence. The class material wouldn't be that hard if he actually cared to teach
Awful professor. His lectures did nothing to help me understand the material. He lectures to the board while speaking quickly and never actually explains the concepts. The smartphysics lectures are far better than his teaching.
Honestly, Reid wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. He can be rude and get snappy at students sometimes, and physics is boring, but he's also organized and does a lot of demonstrations to reinforce concepts. Uses clickers, doing about 40 questions randomly over the course of the quarter. Exams all multiple choice, averages in 60-70% range.
I have no idea what people are complaining about. His explanations are good, he uses tons of demonstrations which help explain the theories, he's reasonable, tests are incredibly easy and straightforward. He's a bit eccentric, but he's a physics professor. I never saw him be disrespectful towards anyone.
He is really fast and confusing.
I had to drop his class because of how confusing he is during his lecture. He has his back turned towards the blackboard and does not answer questions during lecture. I decided to go up to him after class to ask a question and he simple told me to go away. He is rude. He should not be teaching at the University of Washington.
This class was so easy with Reid. His lectures are clear cut, he does tons of demonstrations, and examples. If you just go to class, do the homework and generally pay attention I guarantee you will get an A. His tests are practically problems right out of the book. He doesn't answer questions very well, but look in the book and online.
I liked physics before I took this class. Now I don't like physics. Only reason why I was able to do well in this class is because I took physics in high school so I had some background knowledge and I also had older friends that took physics help me. Get ready to Google how to do every problem.
Based on the previous reviewers, Reid must not have been on his game this quarter. I left class more confused than I was coming in. I'd focus on the book more than the lectures, but be sure to attend, as clicker questions are a big deal.
His lectures were frequently incomprehensible even to him. At one point this quarter he stood up front trying to figure out what he did for five full minutes. Practice for the exams is frequently unrelated to the actual exam and any equation sheet he gives you is a jumble of nonsense. Hands down worst teacher I've ever had.
really terrible professor. Keep writing equations on the board for 50 minutes.
He uses clicker questions for this course. He's passionate about physics, but he is not very clear in his explanations and sometimes uses the wrong equations. He is willing to help if you have questions, just make sure to ask them after class. Don't take without having had previous experience with physics. He seems like a nice person though.
painfully unaware. almost never notices students raising their hand. in lecture he only derives formulas which will never be on the tests. when you ask him for help, he is very condescending always saying that the things he taught are basic knowledge and everyone should learn regardless if they are on the test or not. escape if you can
Horrible lecturer. Total explanations: 2. When asked for explanations in class, he just derives formulas that don't really answer the question. Horrendous awareness; either he does not see hands raised or consciously ignores them. Good luck in office hours, isn't helpful there either. Read your book, and you should do decently
Inspirational in the sense that If I was going to teach, I would aspire to be much better than Mr. James Reid. Though his demonstrations are on point, lecture material not so much. Essentially spends his lecture time discharging any and all equations possible on the board and expects the students to know the variables involved.
He does a very poor job of specifying the work that needs to be done. Uses clickers like its the end of the world. Make sure you do SmartPhysics or you will struggle greatly
DO ANYTHING not to take this sub-human's class. A terrifically bad instructor. Released no practice or review material for classes; his equation sheets looked like a fifth grader made them; he NEVER hosted the office hours he claimed he would; made no power points; never responds to email; HE NEVER CHANGED HIS CLOTHES. 3.9 in E&M, 3.4 in his course
He wasn't as bad as people say, but he is pretty bad. His tests are easy which means extremely high averages (i.e., you'd have to have over 100% to be a standard deviation above on one of the midterms). His explanations aren't too great, he mostly just does proofs. For that reason, it's essential to read the book.
Great enthusiasm for physics, and he explains things well for the most part. He's a nice guy, and, knowing that he has a vision impairment, it's understandable that he sometimes gets lost on the board. The rest of these reviews are unnecessarily harsh; I never had to read a page of the book because I paid attention in class.
His lectures are not very memorable. He mostly derives equations with little explanations to write out. You would think that you understand his explanations, but whenever I look back on my lecture notes to do my homework problems, I do not remember where his got his derivations.
James Reid was literally the worst professor I've ever had. He doesn't care at all about his students and doesn't knowdoesn't care enough to teach. His lectures are boring and the homework rarely aligns with the material he covers. Be prepared to learn everything by google.
Dr. Reid isn't very good. His final exam equation sheet was something that looked like it was typed up at the last minute by a 2 year old. His lectures are fast and confusing, and he doesn't answer questions. Most lectures are just derivations of equations. His demonstrations are useful though, and his exams are pretty fair. He loves his clickers.
won't answer questions in or out of lecture. I once went to office hours and he didn't show up. he never learns how to do the demos before class so wastes our time during lecture by asking the tech guy how they work as he uses them (he doesn't explain the theory though); but don't worry, that time is made up when he starts lectures before the bell!
Reid is a very uninteresting lecturer. I took notes in class but they were more to keep me focused and awake than to help my understanding of the subject. I basically learned the material from the online PreLectures and I would recommend taking notes on those rather than his lectures.
James Reid is very confusing, and not easy to follow. He does not care about his students, which is made obvious when he 'answers' questions. Honestly, he does not answer questions, so get a study group. Tests are really hard and he does not explain them afterwards. Try your best to avoid him.
Ol' Dr. Jim is a poor lecturer. He derives questions on the board instead of teaching. You can rely mostly on the equation sheet in the exams, except for the final, when it seemed he wrote it on Word 5 minutes before the test. Hilarious to listen to, gives good demos, but is 100% apathetic of your learning. He's just there so he doesn't get fined.
Dr. Reid's lectures are hard to follow without any physics background, and he mostly just derives equations. if you want a question answered, he will try not to notice you and if you do grab his attention, he gets irritable and tries to answer you're question before you're even done asking. The demos are pretty cool (but not often explained well).
His lectures on specific chapters are short and succinct, great for finding the origin of the equations you use for the problems he chooses shortly after the lecture. Gives you plenty of time to try the problems yourselves and then he runs through them. That is pretty much the structure of the class! Also assigns weekly homework that isn't tough.
All he does is show you how to derive the equations. He doesn't have another way of explaining concepts. It's a hard class overall unless you're good at physics or retaking an AP course.
Dr. Reid is exactly what you'd expect for a 260-student lecture. He goes through examples quickly, and when you ask questions he often either 1) doesn't answer what you're asking or 2) doesn't explain it further than "that's just how it is." If he meets you as a student though, he attempts to make a connection with you. At least there's that.
I found his lectures very clear and informative. He is also VERY personable, and more than willing to help you if you have questions, all you have to do is ask. He is also a very kind person in general, and has a great way of using demos to make physics come alive! :D
Easiness wasn't necessarily a 1 more like a 2.5, but I just wanted to give the lowest possible rating to emphasize how awful this man is. He will not and by will not I mean he CANNOT, answer students' questions. He will assign homework NOT pertaining to an exam the night before that exam, doesnt reply to emails, the least resourceful man ever.
A lot of the reviews are really harsh. I honestly think he's nice and informative. He tests on homework. He explains concepts well, but I am very bad at physics so I need additional help from the book. But if ur not you should be fine just with lecture. He might be a little boring sometimes but honestly I do learn a lot from his class.
I got my best grade on the midterm I did not go to class for which pretty much don't go to class. I almost think going to class confused me more than taught me anything about physics. He doesn't understand students at all or how we learn. His equation sheets for tests look like a kindergartner made them and are so confusing
Good professor . His lectures may not be as fun but his demonstration are good . His papers are kinda easy compared to his counterparts . I would say to solve question from Tipler as he loves that book . Overall the course is tough but manageable if u give enough time .
Don't expect your grade to be curved at all - this is my worst grade ever & got 3.5+ in both previous physics classes. Lectures from the book but 25 mins of class spent on pointless demos. Tests on homework & avg is usually an 80+ so even if you do "well" 80+ on each midterm, your final grade gets completely screwed. Don't take him if you can avoid
Don't take physics with this professor. Just realized that this class isn't curved at all. I am bawling my eyes out.
He was a nice prof, willing to answer questions outside of class when needed. The material an labs were fun and interesting. Go to lectures, labs, and quiz sections, take notes, read the text, and do the homework, and you should do fine. Would definitely recommend him if you have the choice.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
45%
Textbook Required
96%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.04 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYS115
3.0
(9)PHYS221
3.0
(2)PHY121
2.5
(2)PHYSICS115
2.5
(2)PHYS114
2.4
(8)Difficulty by Course
PHYS121A
5.0
PHYS121B
5.0
PHYSICS121
5.0
19460
4.0
PHYS228
4.0