3.1
Quality3.2
Difficulty35%
Would Retake84
Reviews35%
Would Retake
84
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
20
3
16
2
16
1
14
What Students Say
“He's kind of like the Wizard of Oz, he's a good man, but he's not the best teacher”
PHYS121 - 3.0 rating“Can't think of a nicer man but he can't teach physics to save his life”
PHSC106 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
78%
Textbook Required
44%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.04 avg changeRatings by Course
220
5.0
(1)PHSCS221
5.0
(1)REL325
5.0
(2)PHYCS220
5.0
(1)PHSCS321
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PHSCS108
5.0
PHY220
5.0
220
4.0
PHSY220
4.0
PHSCS123
4.0
Reviews (84)
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Dr. Rees runs his classes in such a way that they are manageable at your own pace. If you just get things done by the deadlines and don't procrastinate you'll be just fine.
Dr. Rees is a good teacher. He actually explains things clearly and gives good lectures. It took me about a month to figure out the syllabus, but it's really easy to get assignments in on time. To do well in this class, do ALL the assignments and know the practice exams. Also read the book he wrote, the other textbook doesn't really matter.
Prof Rees is a horrible prof that doesn't care about teaching. His class wasn't particularly difficult, but the course was so unorganized that it was impossible to tell what to study.
My favorite professor in the physics dept. Sometimes he goes faster than the students can really understand, but he's always willing to go back and explain himself. Knows the material cold, and is a wealth of information on other topics.
One of my favorite teachers. He really knows his stuff, and is rather brilliant, which sometimes makes him a little hard to follow, because he is thinking about all aspects of Physics at once, but keep up, do the reading and the homework, and just try hard, and you should do fine. I hated Physics before this class, but Dr. Rees changed my mind.
He is definitely lost in his own world and can't relate to students. Prime example of someone that shouldn't be teaching. If this were up to me he would do research and that is it! Education is about students not the professors.
The class is very organized right from the first day. He lets you pick your own grading scale so can focus on what you do best. The only bad thing is that he teaches the material as if eveyone already had mastered it, but read before class and it won't be too bad.
Custom grade weight scheme is a nice feature, meaning that he allows you to give in-class clicker quizzes (his way of checking attendance) and the out-of-class labs weight "0" if you choose. His lectures aren't always easy to follow, but he puts a lot of effort into the class; it's difficult subject matter for any professor. I'd say he does great.
He was a really good Doctrine and Covenants teacher. Sometimes his lectures got a little boring, but he always knew what he was talking about. The class wasn't hard at all. There was just a few papers and the tests weren't hard if you studied for them. He's a really nice guy, and I'd reccommend him!
He was a great Doctrine and Covenants teacher. He really knew what he was talking about, and you could tell he cared about it. There's only a couple of easy papers you have to write, and the tests are really easy. Sometimes his lectures got a little boring, but I really enjoyed this class.
it's time to retire. he is completely lost in his own world and is unable to explain difficult concepts. he rambles through lecture so fast it's impossible to take notes. his tests and quizzes are too difficult. he lets you pick your own grading scale, but he doesn't tell you that it's nearly impossible to get a good grade w/o doing everything.
Excellent. He is obviously very smart. When a kid asks a question, some teachers say whatever just to satisfy the them. But Rees always makes sure what he says is accurate and helpful. He puts things in perspective by showing the limitations of models and the history behind them. I can say he is the last teacher you would ever hear B.S. from.
A very smart man. The concepts in the class are hard to understand but he tells you that. The tests are hard (due to the difficult theory) but the rest of the class isn't bad. It's a lot to take in, but you can tell he knows what he is talking about and loves it.
This guy is awesome! Class is extremely easy. Two very simple papers and three easy tests.
He knows his stuff, but often gets lost in his own world during lectures. He dwells too much on theory instead of practical application. Also, he uses his an online textbook which he wrote himself which often doesn't have all the information needed to understand the homework/tests. I suggest trying to find a different teacher if at all possible.
Unclear in all of his lectures. The information that you receive in class is useless when it comes to actually taking his tests and quizzes. If you go to class and do all of your homework before the tests, you will feel confident until you actually take the test and realize that he hasn't taught you anything.
He discussed physics, but almost never explained it. He didn't explain math, NEVER explained why assumptions were made or why values were assumed for variables.Even the TAs didn't know how to do his HW problems.the HW was almost unrecognizably connected with the lectures.midterms and quizzes on the same days.i learned almost nothing from him.awful
He is one of the smartest people I have ever met. However, he is also one of the worst teachers I have ever met. His lectures are absolutely worthless, but you have to go because he gives quizzes. I'm not sure if he thinks people understand him or if he just doesn't care. He'd obviously rather be in his lab, and thats where he belongs.
Dr. Rees is way smart but sometimes forgets that he wasn't always a genius. He probably shouldn't teach physics 105, 106, 121, 123 or 220. He should teach higher level classes because he skims over what he thinks is obvious. His grading system isn't bad but man there is a lot to learn so I'd pick someone who explains concepts more simply.
Dr. Rees is a nice guy and tries to teach, but he is extremely smart and hard to follow. He gave homework assignments that helped me to learn the chapter, even though they were sometimes time-consuming. If you do your homework, read the chapters, and go to the test reviews, you should get a decent grade.
His lectures can be boring because he actually knows what he's talking about, but the class is very well organized and if you do the assignments you'll learn a bunch and should do fine.
He focuses heavily on theory and history that is not helpful for homework, quizzes, or tests. And the theory he does teach is usually incomprehensible and very boring. I had to teach myself from the textbook each week when doing the homework. If you study the quizzes, the tests aren't too hard.
A nice man who knows a lot about physics and doesn't get the respect he deserves. Concepts were easy enough to grasp (especially after the homework) but the lectures were a little hard to stay awake in. Tests are difficult just because there are so few questions, every wrong answer seriously hurts your grade.
If you like disorganized, convoluted, myopic lectures, you will love him. He seems unprepared for every class. His makeshift online homework system was a huge obstacle to my learning. He spends more time telling you how hard the material is rather than explaining it to you, which seems to be his way of coping with his own bad teaching.
This class was amazing! Dr. Rees' teaching is extremely clear, and all the assignments and tests accurately test on the things he has taught. He doesn't get bogged down in the details of the harder concepts, but instead focuses on a solid theoretical understanding. He is very approachable, and one of the best teachers I've had at BYU.
Professor Rees is the best professor I've ever had!! He does't get bogged down in the difficult concepts, but teaches them step-by-step and well. The tests are easy but very fair and are not designed to trick you. His online homework system is also very very helpful. I would very highly recommend him
Nice person, but he didn't really explain concepts, or how to use equations. He gave equations, true, but I can't really recommend him if there's another option for 220.
Dr. Rees is an amazing teacher and the best for 220. I took this class and now i work with three other 220 professors as a TA. The homework and quiz system that Rees uses makes this class really easy to do well in. He is really good at making the difficult concepts easy to understand. (understanding linear algebra helps a lot with this class.)
Not gonna lie, this was not my favorite class ever. He is a really nice, sweet man but is sooo bad at explaining concepts and talks quickly and unclearly. I learned most at the TA lab. The small amount of questions on tests made it difficult to get good test grades...thank goodness for the huge curve!
Dr. Rees is great. He really gets excited about science, and his humble attitude and sense of humor make it a good class. I almost never read the textbook in depth, but did fine in the course. Just do the assignments, go to lab and the review sessions before tests, and you'll do fine.
Dr. Rees should not teach non-majors. He thinks all of this is easy, so he glosses over it or references calculus proofs we don't need to know. Most of the class was totally lost all semester, and 25 questions per test, which all are a hefty part of the grade, hurt more than I thought they would.
Prof. Rees is a complete nerd. Picture a stereotypical physics professor, and you have Dr. Rees. He is an okay professor, not especially bad at teaching but I have had worse. His online homework/quiz/lab system is makes homework nice, and he doesn't assign too much. Tests were difficult. I recommend him for non physics majors.
Good professor. Class is tough.
Dr. Rees is really really funny. It is a hard class, but it helps to take it from him because you know exactly what he expects from you. The homework is practically the exact same as the test. However, you do have to read the textbook though.Overall, I really liked him and the material became somewhat fun because of him.
Dr. Rees is a good professor and person. He really tries to help you with the material and has iClicker quizzes every day to make sure that you're learning. However, the tests are hard, especially the final without an equation sheet for the 100+ equations we learned in this class.
Class is easy, but you learn a lot. Dr. Rees is awesome.
Uses his own FREE pdf textbook. Very good teaching style with weekly quiz, homework, requiz format. On-your-own time labs that take generally 45 minutes.
Dr. Rees' lectures were horribly boring and I hardly learned anything from them. Got a D on the first midterm. I stopped going to class completely after that, and Just dedicated lots of time to reading the textbook thoroughly, then got a 92 on the final. It's a shame, He really is the nicest guy.
You have to be on your A game to do well in his class. I'm retaking the class and personally would not recommend anyone take it from him who hasn't taken AP physics in high school.
Nice guy but really awkward. He has an interesting grading system and he explains things odd sometimes but overall a nice guy. Read the textbook (a PDF he wrote) before class and you'll have a better idea of what is going on.
He uses his own textbook so it's free. The homework translates directly to these mastery-checks which help a ton for the online quizzes. He also lets you take part of the midterms/final online as many times as you need to pass. They're called "the basic test." Study those a ton and there is no way you'll get less than a B+
Dr. Rees is a really nice guy and teaches a very well structured class. His textbook teaches easy concepts very well, but doesn't do so well with the harder concepts. However, the class is very easy to succeed in if you just review the Quizzes that he gives you. Dr. Rees loves to help students and really cares about them.
I took AP Electricity and Magnetism and got a 5. If you are thinking about taking the class again from Prof. Rees if you are a physics major, DON'T. It was way easier than the AP equivalent and way different and weird and confusing because of the way he teaches it. I wish I had moved on to PHSCS 222.
I wish every professor made things as easy as Dr. Rees. The only reason I didn't learn things as permanently as I would have liked is because the assignments weren't much more difficult then they needed to be, so I sped through them. But the straight-forward nature (for a physics class) of the homework made things clearer than other classes.
He makes a very difficult subject as easy as possible. This guy is legit: he wrote his own textbook, designed his own homework website, and invented his own physical models to explain relativity: all free of charge. He really goes all the way to make learning as easy, convenient, and cheap as possible. Very few people get below a B grade.
Best Physics Professor I have EVER had. He breaks things down so simply in class and in his textbook, but there is also a lot of math if you want to know how things are derived.
I had little to no idea what he was talking about in the lectures. He's quirky and hard to follow. But his class is structured very well with a website he created himself. The homeworkquiz system he created was great and is what actually helped me learn the material. His textbook is free because he wrote it. His tests have around an 85% average.
I had already taken AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism in HS but I retook this class to make sure I knew it. I knew most of the material, but the stuff I didn't know he was very clear on explaining. He really cares about his students and does his best to get you the grade you deserve.
Very well the worst professor I've ever had at BYU. He doesn't address the homework at all in class and just puts together a powerpoint and reads off it the whole time. Test averages are about 60%. He makes tons of errors when he keys the tests and the homework as well so you never know if you're right. I would never take from him again.
Unless you have taken AP physics or the like, you may have a hard time. Its hard to understand the lectures unless you have done the pre-class reading and understood it. Homework is online. His homework system works well but it is hard. Be ready to work. He does his best, but there is a lot of material and so so many students. Just dont get behind.
Don't co-enroll in Calc 112 and this class. This was his first semester teaching 121, so he may change this, but this semester people were expected to know how to do basic derivatives while Calc 112 was still on limits. He didn't explain much, but if you have previous experience with Calc and Physics you'll probably be fine.
Rees is okay, but not always very clear. Sometimes he gets to a slide on the powerpoint and skips it, assuming that everyone already understands it. He does a lot of work on the whiteboard when explaining problems which is hard to see unless you're sitting in the front row. That being said, he is a helpful professor and the class was manageable.
Dr. Rees is a great guy and sometimes pretty funny. Makes frequent spelling mistakes which is what keeps me entertained for the hour and 15 min class. ;) Labs were easy, homework was fairly easy as well. If you can memorize equations this class will be a breeze. You don't even have to understand anything really if you can do that.
Dr. Rees puts more work into his classes than most teachers I have ever had. He puts together labs, brings in demos, builds animations, and has even formulated his own model for electrodynamics to help students get a conceptual feel for it. Very approachable, and great lecturer. Working the homework (which is not much) solidifies the concepts.
Dr. Rees is great. If you really take the time to do the weekly homework, mastery checks, and quizzes you will do fine. Dr. Rees is also a really nice grader so getting a good grade isn't hard. He's super approachable and has a good sense of humor. I would recommend doing the reading before class.
Dr Rees is a great teacher! You need to go to class and do the homework, but if you do the work, the class is a breeze. He gives a lot of grading options (eg: tests only, tests and quizzes, tests quizzes hw, etc.). This is very nice if you don't want to do all the labs. Overall, Dr Rees is pretty good, but you need to actually work for it.
I took Dr. Rees for 121 and 220. The classes were pretty easy. He is a confusing lecturer which is okay because his class slides and his personal textbook (for 220) are extremely clear. I was lost in lecture the whole semester and still got an A/A- respectively.
Dr. Rees is an awesome professor. He really cares about his students. He's also pretty funny. If you can make physics make sense in your head, his class goes pretty well. Beware, though, there is something to do almost every day for his class.
Professor Rees really cares about the students. I usually left his PHYS 121 lectures more confused than when I entered. I used outside sources to help me grasp concepts. There is a lot of homework. I took AP physics in high school before my mission, and that helped me a ton, even though I didnt remember it all.
Rees is not the best teacher. He is a nuclear physicists and it is obvious that he is not an experienced teacher. His 121 class, he teaches as if we all understand the material already and perhaps some do, but many get lost. His technique is just not effective. And I wish I had taken the class from someone else I would have learned more probably.
Dr. Rees was a great professor. His teaching and grading styles are such that you can get by with a pretty good grade, even if you don't have a solid handle on the material. Definitely make sure you put in the effort to really understand what's going on. This stuff is useful. Also Dr. Rees is fun to talk to and has a great personality.
Physics 121 is bound to be hard and it sure was. However, Professor Rees is a VERY generous grader and really does his best to teach you all the material in the allotted time. Although the class is super hard, Professor Rees might be your best chance to do well in 121- super sweet, smart, and kind man.
A very broken course. I didn't learn an ounce of math and passed. Lectures, homework, quizzes, and tests all seem very distinct from one another. The tests seem to be 5 tiers higher in difficulty (on a 10-tier scale) than the homework, so averages on tests were poor. Divvied extra points on tests to compensate for absurd difficulty. Can guess on HW
Loved this physics class.
Can't think of a nicer man but he can't teach physics to save his life. It's fine that he's at the university to do research but he should not be teaching.
Exhibits poor pedagogy, which is a shame considering he has a lot of technical skill (he's a nuclear physicist). Just doesn't know how to talk to people who don't already know what he's trying to teach - assumes we know more than we do. I did fine, but that's just because I'm good at this sort of thing. Very nice man, just not the best teacher.
Lectures were very hard to follow along. If he's running out of time in class, he'll rush through the slides telling us what and what don't we need to know, which made studying a pain. Doesn't really involve the class. He brushes on concepts with not much examples. In-class demonstrations always seemed to always fail on him which was disappointing.
Dr. Rees is a really nice guy. He gives equation sheets for the tests/homework, memorize those! His grading system is REALLY merciful, he has like 5 different ways of calculating your grade and he takes the highest one. Read the book, sit through lecture, do the homework.
He's kind of like the Wizard of Oz, he's a good man, but he's not the best teacher. If you want to smile often, this is the class for you, but he has difficulty teaching the concepts to the understanding of students. He's a very old professor and I'm not sure he updates his powerpoints... like if he ever has... ever. Pretty difficult class.
I liked how this course had only 65% of our final grade weighted on the tests. All students could take 25% of every test including the final at home and get 100% guaranteed on that part! He is not a good lecturer, you have to self teach yourself but the homework does a good job at helping you learn. Very nice and caring man.
Professor Rees is a very intelligent man who has a hard time explaining his thoughts and intelligence. Class was hard to follow and understand. It is important to do the reading and understand it and also the TA lab is really helpful because they know how to explain the concepts simply.
Dr. Rees is definitely the professor to take this class from. His Mathematica assignments are organized to help you really get the concepts down before you have to do the algebra yourself. I learned a ton and found the material very interesting. He grades it on a curve, but the class is very, very doable.
Dr. Rees was a good teacher to have. He was always kind and did his best to be funny and genuine with his students which is hard for a large lecture class. The class had an interesting grading mechanism, there were lots of categories and he somehow maximized them to give you the best grade. I didn't understand the concepts but still did well!?
Pretty straightforward. Physics is just difficult but the way he sets up the course allows you to get a pretty good grade even if you aren't performing very well. He offered to write a letter of rec to anyone who wanted at the beginning of the semester, really nice guy! I would take a class from him again
Physics is hard, and most physics professors seem to have problems teaching what they know in a clear way that is easy to understand, Dr. Rees included. Dr. Rees makes the tests less difficult than other professors but the trade off is having to memorize formulas given. Key to doing well is to do the homework and get help when you get stuck ASAP.
Professor Rees is really passionate about physics, which is a gift and a curse. If you love physics, you'll be interested in his daily tangents into upper-level concepts that no one in the class is equipped to understand. I, however, simply wanted to learn basic physics, so his endless time-wasting was extremely, extremely frustrating.
Dr. Rees is super nice, but I had a real hard time understanding the material in lecture. If you're willing to put in a lot of personal time to go to other sources for help, this class is okay. Unless you have prior experience with this material, this is a difficult class and you may have a hard time understanding things. That's been my experience.
I would not have attended lecture if it were not for the mandatory quizzes. I literally learned nothing from himwhat I learned I taught myself. He is an extremely poor educator.
Worst professor I have ever had in BYU history. The man is smart but has no idea how to teach, create a fair test, or set you up for success. His lectures consist of pure tangents while skipping important info. The average on the 2nd test was 40 percent... this says enough. He doesn't allow an equation sheet, and the HW is insane. DO NOT TAKE HIM!
He's a very nice man. You can tell he truly loves what he teaches, unfortunately, that doesn't mean he's any good at teaching it. He's very unorganized. If you're a person who naturally understands physics you'll do just fine, if you don't then he'll have no idea how to teach you the concepts in a way you can understand.
Physics profs in general seem to have a hard time teaching clearly, including Dr. Rees. He really struggles to put ideas together in a way that makes sense. I'm not a physics major. I'd hoped to be taught in a clear and concise way, but this class wasn't clear or concise. No idea why this class was required for my major. It was pretty useless.
This class is a disaster. I am not sure if Dr. Rees realized that none of us knew what was going on except the three people on the front row giving him positive feedback... If it weren't for the TA lab, this class would be impossible with him. The class itself is typical, but he makes it hard with his confusing lectures and rapid pace.
Great guy, terrible teacher. He is very kind hearted and tells funny stories sometimes. He is very intelligent but not very good at teach or explaining. Often moves pasts peoples questions without answering them completely. Class is a little bit of a mess.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
78%
Textbook Required
44%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.04 avg changeRatings by Course
220
5.0
(1)PHSCS221
5.0
(1)REL325
5.0
(2)PHYCS220
5.0
(1)PHSCS321
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PHSCS108
5.0
PHY220
5.0
220
4.0
PHSY220
4.0
PHSCS123
4.0