2.6
Quality3.7
Difficulty33%
Would Retake103
Reviews33%
Would Retake
103
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
17
3
14
2
10
1
41
What Students Say
“He mispronounces words all the time and mumbles”
2325 - 1.0 rating“Do you know why I laugh”
PHYS1401 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
74%
Textbook Required
89%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.59 avg changeRatings by Course
2125
5.0
(1)2326
5.0
(2)PHYSICS
5.0
(1)MATH1314
5.0
(1)PHYS236
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
UNIVERSITYPHYS
5.0
PHYSIC1
5.0
PSHY2325
5.0
ASTRONOMY1403
5.0
PHYS
5.0
Reviews (103)
Difficult, not willing to work with you, hard exams, overall class grade very low
Very hard to understand, has an accent, poor handwriting(small and sloppy), bad teaching habit(not proficient in explaining the physic concept). Very slow grader. Tests are multichoice and work out problems. very hard test and low curves. I knew 10 people in there and all got 'D' like me. Few of these kids were upcoming med students(supposely).
Very good teacher. Makes you fill you know all what he did in class. Labs are easy. Exams are not simple. To get a good grade make sure that you understood his examples.
Easy class. Summer is fast paced, but overall it's doable. Accent and writing take a bit to get used to. He explains things well and does plenty of examples. Lab was a breeze. Tests came straight from notes and examples did in class. Taking Zamani now for Phys II. He's not good. I wish Tafa was teaching Phys II.
not a good instructor, homeworks so hard, tests as well , and do dont learn anything from his class
You have to do the work in this class and you will get the grade you deserve. I knew some people who like me made an A. To the aspiring pre-meds who made a D and are now complaining, you won't pass the MCAT with that attitude. Would you rather get a C now, and fail later when you get to a real school, or re-evaluate your degree choice now?
pretty easy teacher to me, glad to help students but he has very weird accent. it takes time to understand him. better do homework in his class.
his class is not that hard as those reviews above. he's pretty nice, but sometimes he is lazy to answer your question. you need to do the homeworks, that would help alot in the exam. mostly, the exam problems are in your notes. so take notes. p/s: to anyone with those negative reviews: look at yourself again before you comment anybody
HE IS GOOD IN TEACHING AND MAKE THINGS EASIER AND INTERESTING
Recomended. One of the best teacher that I ever taken. He grades easily and often rounding up your grades. He gives extra credits before the test. This class requires strong mathematical background and some analysis. He doesn't speak perfect english however if you study from study guide you will do fine. Also read the book for theory questions
A really intelligent professor with a very strong calculus background. He's very helpful, and is always willing to work with you outside of class. His exams should not be a problem if you do your homework assignments and participate in class.
this guy is horrible...i didn't get a word he said...i don't understand why hcc hire these people..who can't even speak english
What a concept: a physics professor who actually understands physics! Dr. Tafa is the best Physics professor at HCC; I had him for both University Physics I & II. His exams are no surprises: every problem on the exam, he has worked in class or shown how to work them on exam reviews. Anyone who complains about him is whiny or skips class too much.
He speak with an accent that's hard to understand. This is what blows. It's hard to focus on the material when you keep on getting distracted by the way he talks. Though I have to say that he is very knowledgeable in his field. I got a B on his class but I would never take his class again. If you don't mind heavy accent, go ahead take his class!
look prof,kumela has the knowledge of the material.accent or no accent if you know what u are doing you will not have problem. i took him this mini-term. some will not come to class nor do online assignment that contributed 15% to final grade(free point) but want to get A. i had A despite the accent. is highly recommended.
Don't take this class as a joke. The homework and lab grade together make up 35 percent of your grade which everyone should do fairly well on. As for the test.. they were extremely difficult, i failed almost every test with grades in the 60's. Which was normal in this course. I learned alot in the class and i would recommend to take this professor.
communication
HWs are tough, but do-able. Exams..he tells you clearly that the questions are from HW problems he works on in class and the EXAM REVIEWS that he provides, KNOW THESE BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS. He loves to derive the equations however he usually loses the class in all that derivation making it more complicated than it is. The man knows his stuff!
This is a very difficult course. I'm probably going to drop it because I couldn't keep up. Dr. Tafa is fair and lets you replace your lowest test grade if you do better on a subsequent test, but he can only help improve your grade so much.
Dr TAfa is an excellent Physics teacher. He really tries to explain the concepts in a more simple way than what is in the text. If you do the homework and attend class regularly, you will do good. Very very helpful if you have questions. He knows physics is not for everybody but he tries his best to simplify it as much as possible. Great teacher!!
He is a really nice guy. The material is hard, but he does an okay job explaining. I made C's on my test, and my life became hell cuz I thought I was gonna get a C. somehow I got an A. Only god knows what happened.
hei u all now pay attention here, only if you had to take this teacher b/c all other classes are full and u are stock with this teacher right? ok i give u some tips 1)he gives out hwk, k, hwks are hard, so get in groups and sure search yahoo answers 2) None of hwk problems are gonna be on ur test maybe only one that u r gonna see it on the continue
i think im down to 3)he gives u review sheets few days b4 the test and his test is only from the review sheet so know it to d point where u can solve the problems blind folded.. 4) there are only 4-5 questions and one of em is bonous w/ 10 pts.. 5) each question has parts a,b,c,d to it, if u miss a u kinda are in trouble cuz u just missed 25 pts :?
during this semester i studied hard, and ive been getting Cs. now if u care for ur grade this is gonna mess up ur whole entire day and i was ****y to ppl bc of this.. now finally i check my grade and magic happens and i got B??? he says sth like if u dont take any of the test and only take final and so that is ur final grade, i quote him on the la
Some of this comments DO NOT reflect this professor. If you want to learn go for his class. He is the best I have ever had. His grading is not so hard and he is not also easy. Recommended..
This is the worest physics teacher in HCC. Almost every student feels hard in his class. above half of class drop his class finally. you cannot get any help from his class. the homework are very difficult and test are totally different from homework and review sheet. I took his class in this semester and the highest grade in first test is 77.
some good comments in this page I bet they were put by this professor himself. No one in my class likes him. I believed the good comments in this page and tried his class this semester and it proves the bad comments are true. I dropped it although I studied hard.
It is so hard to get good grade from his class. Drop from his class. Really was very difficult.
the worest thing for this bad teacher is the tests are always different and harder from homework and examples in lecture. one more thing I have to mention is his different accent, which is very hard to understand at the beginning, he should only teach international students.
Don't take him, he is not clear and not helpful. If you want waste time and money, go to his class, finally you are gonna drop or fail. I dropped his class this semester at last.
I would never recommend this teacher to anyone. This class is a joke!The test and hw have nothing to do with the readings from the book.Do NOT take this class!!you will fail!he is no help!!
DO NOT take this professor unless u like to teach yourself, the online homeworks are useless when it comes to the test, he releases the test reviews a few days b4 the test and the test are hard!
I took Dr Tafa's phys i class and enjoyed it. He is exteremly helpful and friedily. He makes him self available to us and answered all students questions on a timely basis. The course was not easy and he is not an easy teacher as well. But he tries to teach you physics.
Learn nothing from his class. DONOT TAKE HIM. he makes physics very hard for the test.
This is the worest teacher for physics in HCC. He doesn't know how to teach, his leacture is hard to understand. His homework and tests are so hard. How can you handle hard problems before you understand basic one? It is waste of time and money taking his class. I dropped finally.
This class was definitely much harder than I anticipated. Sometimes his accent made it difficult to understand his lectures, and his handwriting made it hard to read the lecture notes. However, he is nice and totally willing to help you if you ask him. Also, he expects a lot of details for the lab reports, and exams are hard.
Missed a final,he gave me a chance to retake it ^^. Although I probably failed, I do not blame him. I was able to isolate the reason why i failed. Since I want to be a physics major and teach, I needed to find ways to succeed without having to retake any classes. Thanks to him I think I may have found a way to make A's. I wish he knew the real me.
I took him for the 2nd summer session and he's a hard professor. The test were a combination of the review and things he went over in class on the board. He put 4 questions on the test with about 5 to 8 part questions. If you asked him for help he would say maybe you should read more. He was very knowledgeable of the subject he just sucked a Pr
first off,if want an easy A he is not the teacher for you.if you really want to learn physics take him, at the end its worth it. i really learned a lot from his class .if you are gonna take the class...the exam scores most likely would be bad but,don't drop ...just do your best at the end he curves people making 40s ended up with b's
Didn't really pay attention in class but he seems like a nice enough teacher. Really study the reviews and pay attention to central concepts. I didn't bother with a textbook, could figure it out from the notes or khanacademy/yale sources/ random googling
Took him over mini-term and make an easy A with little effort. He is the most fair and easy grade I've had in physic. As long as you show your works and your understanding. And you do good on homework. You will make a good grade for sure. He is very knowledgeable about physic. Haters dislikes him bc they are lazy not do HW or attend class. Thank Dr
Yea, This guy is ridiculous. Had him for the online course and he did nothing to help me, i emailed him 3 time THATS 3 times within the course of a 2 weeks and he got back to me a week later. That was after i had already taken two tests. DONT TAKE HIM, waste your money elsewhere.
WORST TEACHER EVER! the test are super hard, he doesn't really care about the class his lectures are sooo hard to follow!! Lab is sooo unorganized please if you can avoid taking him!!
If you do your work, study his reviews, go over concepts, and practice problems this class can be an easy A. If you blow this class off and not give it the attention it deserves, you're probably going to struggle throughout the semester. It takes him a while to grade tests and he did strike me as a bit lazy which I found annoying.
Tafa does a good job in lecturing and helping his students. If you have a question, just raise your hand during class or go talk to him after class and he will help you! If he sees that you are at least trying to learn, attend lectures, and participate, you will receive a good grade. He is very knowledgeable about physics. Take him! Tafa=BOSS
Please don't take his class, I took it when it was staff. worst teacher ever. May be HCC has problem to find Physic instructor, otherwise It is not possible to maintain him. He knows physic but don't know how to transmit it to his students. make you take the second test after the official day to drop so it is late to realize that you have to drop.
worst teacher ever. If you want to know physic or transfer to a good university, please don't take him.
Difficult class but as long as you put in effort you'll get a good grade. come on guys it's physics what do you expect? and for exams make sure you answer ALL questions even if you don't know. he gives partial credit for trying.
Difficult class but as long as you put in effort you'll get a good grade. come on guys it's physics what do you expect? and for exams make sure you answer ALL questions even if you don't know. he gives partial credit for trying even if you got it wrong.
he is a physicist and very at home with his stuffs , revievs and lecture notes very helpful for exam. gives point just for writing down formulas and also bonus questions, the class is tough but you learn alot from him. his accent is understable and clear I recomment him for stusents wllling to work for their grade
His lectures are boring and pretty much irrelevant on the tests. He gives out practice tests on blackboard so basically just study that and you'll be fine. I crammed for the tests the day before each test and passed. Final exam is everything you learned throughout the semester so that's the only bad one. Show up to class do the labs. Easy grade.
Thanks to "Doctor" Tafa and his C, my GPA drops from 3.5 to 3.2. There are so many things wrong with his teaching, he never grades quizzes and homework on time, he does not take any responsibility to tell a student where he stands in class, his labs exercises are unorganized, and worst of all is his accent. I can't barely understand his lecture.
bad teaching, most don't understand,easier to understand the lecture from internet. I need triple times at home for his class to get B. don't take him if you can not study very hard because test is hard too. Don't take him.
Tafa is not an easy teacher because he makes the material difficult to understand. He does not know how to explain the concept he only goes over theory. He gives very few examples. He does not give a review session for test he only posts them. His reviews are 14 pages long and he expects you to memorize every single problem on review. Bad teaching.
He does not know how to transmit physics to the students. Lectures are confusing and irrelevant on test. If you take him just practice the reviews. Which are ridiculously long and very difficult. Which is not fair considering his poor teaching skills and unclear lectures.
I took his class and it was the most horrible thing on earth... If anyone want's to make A or B in his class you have to thing everything in terms of physics and study only for his class DAY and NIGHT
If you are smart student, good in physis and can spent all your time for his class, take him, if not, do not take him. hard to understand. He teach at Stafford and Westloop HCC.
Tafa has put academia to shame with his poor teaching ability. Hahahahahahahah!!! Do you know why I laugh?? Because you are screwed. Simple. Expect to teach yourself.
Took his class for Summer. Make sure to read the book and listen to his lectures. Study his reviews and lecture note questions because some of the questions will be on his exam. Bonus questions on exam and gives some credit for attempting problems. Make sure to complete HW. He will most likely curve towards the end. Highly recommend Tafa=Boss.
Lord knows how I made an A in this class. I made a 54, 74, and 86 on my first three exams and an 84 on homework. He gives a huge curve at the end. He gives you A LOT of bonus questions on the exams and the questions are ONLY taken from the class notes and review. He's a great guy even though he can be confusing. Don't drop the class. TAFA=BOSS
He truly is a great teacher, he is passionate about the subject and explains with examples easy to understand, the class is hard because is ASTRONOMY if you are not interested in astr do not take the class, but if you are interested this is a great class, and also, the professor understands this a a hard subject therefore gives lots of extra credit
Great professor, passionate about the subject and explains with examples easy for humans to understand, the class is hard because is astronomy if you are not interested in ASTR please do not take the class, but if you are interested this is a great class, also lots of extra credit
This teacher is probably the worst professor I have EVER had. His lectures consist of him babbling on and on about formulas that he does not explain. Then he expects you to go home and do the homeworkstest on your own and magically understand the concepts. He does not care about your success, and I actually feel like he wanted us to fail.
I loved astronomy till i met prof. Tafa, i thought astronomy professors were inlove with their subject this guy doesnt take time to explain the facinating phenomena of the universe, he covers 2 to 3 chapters in 30 minutes, and expects you to learn all this stuff in a week and his exams are very difficult and with no repetition is impossible to pass
WORST PROFESSOR I EVER HAD. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT TAKE THIS GUY. HIS TESTS ARE HELL HE HAS A REALLY BAD ACCENT
Well let me start off by saying I cannot understand a single word that this man says. He mispronounces words all the time and mumbles. In this 2 hour Physics lecture, he writes down nothing but formulas on the board. He doesn't explain how to attack problems. The exams are over material we have never even touched. TERRIBLE
I took physics 2325 as it is a prerequisite for my degree. Worst professor I've ever had. You won't understand from lectures, his tests are 4 questions you must be able to solve each problem from the review which is 7 pages long without solutions. I honestly felt like he did not want us to succeed. This is a warning if you see his name RUN !!!
ASTR was quite difficult, his exams are tough, just study the review and you will make it, he's an avarage prof, & very nice the only thing is that he uploads grades quite late, and if you missed a quiz, lab etc. Just talk to him he will give you a chance and also he gives lots of extra credit,Thats not bad at all if you ask me, want an A? Earn it
I had fun in prof. Tafa's physics class. The subject was not easy - I worked very hard. He was there when I needed help. If you need an A you have to earn it in his class -
I enjoyed this lab course with Dr. Tafa. If you do the labs and give report on scheduled you nailed it. He is very strict on attendance and you will get 0 if yo did not do the lab. I found him fair and knowledgable
I really liked Dr. Tafa's class on my PHYS course. He is very knowledgeable and passionate about physics. His course is not easy but is well structured. I just studied his examples and the reviews he posted and made an A. If you are ready to do the work he is fun - I wish I could have him for my higher courses
As someone who's very interested in astronomy, I have to say that his class is very hard to keep interest in. His lectures are long powerpoints, usually boring, and somewhat awkward when the class refuses to give feedback most of the time.
If you want to study or work full time, just don't take him. His lectures are just powerpoints and I barely learn a thing. He gives a lot of homework too and there are some problems with grading thing. One time I did the whole thing and he gave me 0 (he said he would review but it's still there). Tests are okay, but extra credits are tough
as someone who has always been interested in astronomy from an early age & taken astro courses in the past, this class was a disappointment to say the least. I hate to sound negative, but I must be honest & warn students to really reconsider taking this class. Communication unclear, help was rarely given, extremely poor class structure, just a mess
He is a nice person in general, but EXTREMELY hard to understand. Does not explain any of the homework given and take a very long time to return grades. is not very accessible outside of class at all. Won't be taking his courses again. very thick accent.
He is a very difficult professor to reach via email. I take him online and the test material is impossible to understand. I can thoroughly say that I have yet to learn a single thing during this astronomy course. Definitely switching professors next semester for Astronomy 1402. DO NOT TAKE HIM. You will be left frustrated and upset.
You have to read to be able to answer the test/quiz material, answers are not online. Professor is hardly ever accessible online! Feedback is nonexistant or takes forever. Be able to figure out your own grades at all times. Unclear about everything. First class I have ever failed!
I took his online class. Worked his homework and the exams questions were mostly from the homeworks. Made an Easy A.
By far the worst professor I have had. The class itself wouldn't be so hard if he would actually teach for the course. There are no reviews for the exams and if you ask for guidance on the expected material you are told to just look at the many PowerPoints and chapter reviews. The final is comprehensive and proctored and no review is given.
I took the class in I loved it; I had no problem with Dr. Tafa, because I was interested in Anstronomy. I think People do well in classes they are interested in. I would take him in any scinece he teaches because he well teach what you need to learn.
Took him online. Great professor, lots of work so don't take his class if you're lazy or are hoping for the bare minimum. He gives around 3 homework sets every week, these are easy and have no time limit, the labs were hard. 3 exams, if you miss one he uses the FE grade for the missed one.
Lots of homework make sure you do all of them as they are 30% of grade. Easy labs and you have several days to do each. put in the work get an A
Just read the textbook and do the chapter quizzes, everything is open note even though she makes you use lockdown browser for every assignment but does not use the webcam or recording function to proctor the exams which makes finding answers easy. If all science classes were this easy I'd take her again.
This professor is never willing to help never respect if you ever miss an assignment neither replies to the emails that we send. Everyone in my class was saying that they hate this class. do not waste your time neither energy on wrong professors please
Avoid him at all costs! I do not for one second believe any of the positive reviews. He is extremely messy. Waits till last minute to post work and makes it due with no time to do it, hard material, grades everything wrong and doesn't fix it, super time consuming/hard labs. Alot of my classmates has grades under C. Pick any rando over this guy
The worst teacher I have ever seen, gives hard homework with close due dates. The class asked him to give us more tries on the homework, but he never listens. His teaching method is useless, doesnt go over anything in the test. The Tests are even worse than the homeworks. I still have a test that hasnt been graded over a month. Avoid him!!!
He took weeks to grade our exams, as the other comment says he gives lots of homework and gives little to no time to complete it. His reviews are over 25-50 questions and he does not post the review until a few days before exams. His exams are half multiple choice half free response. He does not curve exams, even if most of the class fails.
When most of us failed the first exam, he said "I'm going to change my teaching style". By that he meant he was going to stop teaching us all together. He also refused to come to your table to help you if you didn't wear a mask. He put wrong answer choices on reviews AND exams all the time. Don't bother taking this class.
Not a very good professor. His exams are tough, and he would post the review a couples days before the exam. It also took him forever to grade the exams. I would advise to take another professor for physics.
Don't even bother taking this class, it was absolutely absurd. He never does Calculations and just shows theoreticals with variables and expects everyone to understand without a concrete example. He accent makes it a little difficult to understand, but it won't matter because you won't understand the material anyway. Exams were horrendous.
Hard to contact outside of class + bad at communication. Replied to 1 of my 5 emails (sent throughout the course + on different matters). Barely makes announcements for students about the class, if he does then it's VERY late notice. Do not take him for the summer, he is unsympathetic to your life, overloads you w daily HW, and is 100% uncaring.
Online resources helped me in this course. The professor wasn't great in communicating, but he was available during office hours and class time. Tests were similar to hw and practice problems. If you asked, he would help you. Plus, he curved the final and substituted your lowest test grade with the final grade (if you did well on the final).
Although I knew this 5-wk summer class would be fast-paced, I was surprised at how much work there was and how little communication we received. I don't think Dr. Tafa was a bad professor per se - he was helpful when I was able to ask him questions - but he did not respond to emails quickly and it was hard to find opportunities to ask questions.
This professor was bad at communicating with students and would take days to respond to your email if you're lucky enough to get a response. If you do get a response, it would be as if he just answered your email without even reading it.
Horrible Professor who doesn't communicate with their students. Do not expect to receive any help from them. You are on your own.
TERRIBLE professor. I took physics 2 with him after finishing physics 1 with a different HCC professor, and I consistently struggled. His accent is hard to understand, he's terrible at giving explanations of physics concepts, and keeps making mistakes and ANSWERING PHONE CALLS in class. He also had typos on all the labs and tests. Avoid if u can!!!
This professor is "okay" but is definitely not good at responding. I'm taking an online anytime class for astronomy lab, and his instructions were unclear for the first assignment so I received a 0 and he did not give any direction as to how I could improve my grade. All assignments were straightforward through Pearson, but we had to pay extra $$.
I had a good experience with Dr. Tafa. Instructions and grading were clear. He had web meeting every two weeks to see if any students had any questions and not many students would show up, so I don't understand why reviews say he doesn't respond. Class was fairly easy if you do your lab work, no test just a project.
He is a great professor I learned significant things about astrology I can take any other classes from him.
Allowed me to take the finals after the deadline.
The class is straightforward if you put in the work - just read the textbook and do the quizzes. The professor is flexible and even let me take the final after the deadline. Unstuck study was helpful for study prep too.
Please do not take this class!!! He never solves a single question in class and gives extremely difficult homework. Does not even do a review before tests and just explains and reads off the slides. Don't take him unless you want to struggle and study on your own.
The content itself isn't hard but it is not explained properly, focuses on other things, over complicated for no reason. There is a lot of homeworks with little to no explanation or assistance. Course and dates are extremely disorganised, and is never accessible outside of class. Also, if you ask questions he never actually adresses the question.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
74%
Textbook Required
89%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.59 avg changeRatings by Course
2125
5.0
(1)2326
5.0
(2)PHYSICS
5.0
(1)MATH1314
5.0
(1)PHYS236
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
UNIVERSITYPHYS
5.0
PHYSIC1
5.0
PSHY2325
5.0
ASTRONOMY1403
5.0
PHYS
5.0