This course is a trainwreck. Let me start off by saying I did learn a lot and I genuinely found the course's information helpful. However, the insane grading scale, absurd subjectiveness in quiz scores, and the overall frustration this course caused made it a terrible experience.

I don't understand how Paul's teaching style works for people. He doesn't lecture with definitions and conditions to formulas. Instead, he makes students guess and talks about how you don't always have to be right- well, my grade depends on it. His exams get extremely low average scores, and he didn't even get the solutions correct to his own exam!

I have written so many reflections for Paul that I don't want to write another. But all I will say is that he runs the curriculum for the entire Physics 200 series so you will have to deal with him no matter what. Good luck.

This professor has an overly complicated curriculum for his classes. He puts all of the learning and instruction onto the students and expects them to have a grasp of the chapter before the lecture starts. He wastes valuable lecture and lab time on studios and tophat questionaries.

I've had to teach myself a couple classes before from a textbook. Paul doesn't give you that option, his "textbook" is glorified guided reading activity without the technical information you need to learn such a technical class. Graders will mark you down for not doing things you did, because they're as overwhelmed with grading as you are with work

Explain to me how someone could have a PHD in Physics Education but cannot teach physics to save his life. May I introduce you to Paul Emigh. His lack of knowledge in the area of physics becomes apparent when he spends most of his text book videos talking about his cat and avoids doing calculus at all costs. DO NOT TAKE HIM.

Demonstrates minimum correct understanding of required curriculum.

LIPA text is honestly horrible and doesn't cover the same material that other physics textbooks cover. They swear by this book, but I'm not sure if they've even read it themselves. Many grammatical errors in the book and its supposed to be a "published" book. LOL published by who? Patrick star?

Dr. Emigh's lectures are some of the most boring lectures you could ever attend. His lectures consist of a lot of talking with very little content. Overall, Dr. Emigh is one of the worst professors I have ever had and I highly recommend avoiding his classes.

He's a really good comedian but doesn't grade appropriately. I spent 20 HOURS A WEEK on this and still

The worst pro ever

He is a tough grader, and there isn't much that you can really do about it.

I've been a 4.0 student all through high school and college until I had this class. He is the toughest grader I have ever had. Exams had terribly written questions that were very ambiguous. Labs were long and graded harshly. You could go to lab and complete the assignment and still get a 0% for the day just by not answering in their exact wording.

The professor is a nice guy, but the program is awful!!! How the class is set up sets you to fail the class or get a terrible grade. I have gotten all A's in college and taken some difficult classes, for being the intro physics class the grading is extremely strict and confusing on how to do well. He sets the class up for you to get a C.

The grading for this class is extremely tough. Even if you know the concepts very well and give good answers in the homeworks and quizzes they always seem to take points off for not using the correct wording and not being incredibly specific about everything. Mandatory lectures but nothing taught and useless easy practice problems

Grading is way too nitpicky. He set up the course for your to fail. He seems enthusiastic about physics but doesn't know how to set up the curriculum. Even if you do everything they ask you for, they will find ways to take points off. The homeworks are confusing and everything about this course sucks.

He talked to me after class and all I can say is he really loves Dr. Paws.

Like many other students, I took PH211. This class doesn't promote student learning/comprehension, it forces us to answer questions in a specific format using picky and unclear criteria. I've spent HOURS studying and I'm barely passing, many others aren't. The current student average is an F. All because they wanted to try a new teaching method. :(

They teach you to fail.

He's bad at teaching and grading is extremely inconsistent.

Exams questions are extremely vague and poorly written and the LAs fail to give context when its needed. Paul also doesn't really teach in lectures, he kinda just sits there and does nothing.

I recommend taking this class somewhere else…

Inconsistent grading

Paul did a poor job teaching this class. The exam questions were vague and weighted heavy. He doesn't do anything in the lectures he asks one question then stands there and waits for 40 minutes. He is not a good professor. He does nothing but babysit a classroom during his lectures.

Take this class with paul if you hate yourself.

Grading is annoying and the homework is tedious.

Just sits there in lectures and lest TAs do the work

Grading system is horrid, and he does nothing to improve. No matter how well you do the problems, he will find something to mark you down on.

Just don't take him or the other guy, you are going to hate yourself.

sits in lecture for 1 hour and makes students do problems they are not given the tools to do. writes confusing exam questions to the point where averages are always in the 60% for PHYSICS 1. insanely harsh grading. doesn't acknowledge how rough students are doing. >50% of the class is failing currently and nothing is being done to structure of clas

He should be proud for being the worst professor in my life.

The best way I can summarize all of the things that are horrible about this class is that enough students across all the PH211 sections with him and Grant were failing and talked to their advisors about withdrawing that the advisors had to tell them to get it together.

Paul does not set up the course to encourage high grades. The grading scale is extremely test heavy which sets you up to fail. The textbook readings and homeworks have no correlation. Never in my life have I had to worry so much about a class, and I consider myself to like physics. DO NOT take this course.

Just take it at Linn Benton this class sucks. The math is easy and somehow the class average for tests and homework is failing

this class so buns 🥀💔😭🙏

Awful teacher that does nothing to help students. I relied on TA's to teach the class for him in order to understand even just a little of what was going on in class. Take this class either at LBCC or with a different teacher. I have to admit that it's not just him, the curriculum is very much to blame as well (although he it seems he wrote it.)

Terrible. I have never failed a class before this one and the amount of stress it put me through also messed with my other grades. Tests account for 60% and the homework and study guides almost never matched. Take the class over summer or with a different teacher these guys have changed their grading style 3 times and still haven't got it.

The degree of disgust I have for the way this course was taught is not quantifiable by mere words. The utter lack of empathy for his students (majority currently failing) and the constant message of "if you're doing bad it's your fault" is enough to drive even the most passionate students to ruin. The conduct of the professors was disgraceful.

This class made me lose my love for academia. The lectures consist of example problems that students haven't been prepared for, the homework and exams feel disconnected from what's taught, and students are set up to fail. I don't feel like I'm receiving the tools and skills necessary to succeed in the course and recommend taking physics elsewhere.

When I started this course, I was so excited. Now, I am so burnt out by the amount of work and how difficult the class is that I can't even muster the motivation to complete the homework. They just look for reasons to take away points, even if you go to office hours. I cannot think of this class anymore without almost crying.

Worst experience I've had at this school.

I cried more than I learned.

Absolutely awful. Worst class I've taken so far. Marks you down for everything on the homework (where you are supposed to be learning) and averages are failing for quizzes/midterms. Does very little to promote student success.

While the physics program as a whole is terrible, Paul is no exception. Grading is impossible, if you make 1 mistake, your grade is doomed. The grade scale is all messed up (83% is still a D+). I dreaded going to this class, but I knew that missing it meant I would never understand the content. This isn't a physics class, it's a sensemaking class.

I can't believe I'm paying for this class. The instructor has shown no real interest in teaching or supporting students. Instead, he seems more focused on finding ways to take off points from assignments and exams. If OSU is serious about teaching physics to STEM majors, they should seriously reconsider having Paul Emigh as an instructor.

He is one of those professors that gets off to failing students. He goes over one problem in lectures and doesn't even teach us how to do it. I'm sure OSU is already shopping for his replacement...

He doesn't know what he is doing

Final is 40% of your grade, walked out of the final and half the people were crying, I will be blessed to pass the class. This man was smiling when he looked at the people struggling in the final exam. I could've studied for 200 hours and still not pass the final. Do not take physics at OSU, take it at LBCC Ive never had a final this hard

Everyone was looking at each other in the final exam lol

Absolutely terrible, worst professor of my life.

Worst professor ever

This dude doesn't know how to teach. Is he even a professor?

I have never hated a professor like him. I want to ask him, how does it feel to be hated by all students ?

Very strict grader on homework; makes you solve everything the exact way they want you to or you will be marked down. Also lectures could be taught much clearer and studios are a waste of time but attendence is mandatory.

Avoid him at all cost

Most horrendous class and professor I've had to date. Does not seem to care at all about his students. The final worth 40% of your grade is completely unrelated to 90% of the content learned and unnecessarily difficult for an entry-level physics course. Avoid this class and professor at all costs

This term of ph211 was a trainwreck The grading on the homework, quizzes, and tests is extremely harsh. The final exam was ridiculous, I had a 91% in the class pre-final, studied a good amount, and I've never felt more hopeless during a final. Almost none of the questions were anywhere near what we had seen in the class.

He is the best option if you want to fail a class

Work is graded harshly and subjectively, there are no traditional lectures, class material does not prepare you for the tests and textbook is unhelpful. They re-weight grades, so likely you will pass, but if you want to learn physics, don't take this class. Instead, take physics at literally any community college, in Oregon, you have many options!

This is the only class that made me cry in college.

This class was hell. I was a 4.0 engineering student walking into it and after this term will have a 3.5. This professor's lectures are useless and required, the problems are unnecessarily hard and graded hard, and the final had questions harder than challenge homework in a 15-page packet. Most people left the final crying. Don't take this at OSU.

Do not take him, He is probably the worst instructor in my life. He doesn't teach or anything.

He doesn't actually teach. He just puts questions on the slides and has students solve them in groups. No explanations, no real lectures. If you haven't taken physics before, you'll be completely lost and failed.

The averages for both the midterm and final were failing. The class felt more like self study, and the tests didn't match what we practiced. I would recommend if you want to fail.

I have seen people cry after the exams which is disappointed.

Bad grading scale and unclear guidelines. Unnecessarily stressful and hard to get a hold of.

Never wore my seatbelt when driving to lecture because I hoped that I would crash and die before arriving.

Terrible class spent 80% of my term working on this class for no reason not worth it.

Never hated a class more.

I'm seriously thinking about changing my major because of Paul. He doesn't care that most students are failing. The final exam average was 55%, and people were crying after. The class is a mess, and everyone complains about it. He even admitted in an email that they failed to teach us this term, but did nothing to fix it. Avoid at all costs.

I have no idea why OSU is keeping him and Grant

This dude straight up Gave me BTA. Got an A in vector and that final was bad but nothing could have prepared me for that PHY final worth 35 percent of my grade. Nothing on that test made since or was really mentioned. How can you be content with 42 percent avg. Glad I got a B cause everyone else got Cs. Dont take bruh.

As a whole the physics department is lacking, one professor was on review this term and the average on the final was a 55%. The department as a whole needs to be scrapped and rebuilt. Find an alternative at a community college if possible.

DO NOT TAKE HIM, AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS.

Why am I getting graded like I'm a PHD candidate for theoretical quantum mechanics?

He expects you to have a PHD in physics prior taking this class.

Horrible teacher. Answers questions in a condescending and confusing way, terrible scribble handwriting in lectures, tough grading, tests were nothing like the in-class problems. TAs often have no idea how to answer your questions. Avoid taking at osu, you will not learn anything.

The online textbook that we need to use is NOTTTT good, and I didn't really learn anything from it. On top of this, the professor does care, but you will need to email him. This class was more self learning than anything, and the lectures are mandatory for some reason.100% recommend getting a good study group because you'll learn more from friends.

Paul seems nice, but this class was a train wreck. Spent 6+ hours in the worm hole every week (plus many more outside) to still get poor homework grades and even worse test grades. Never felt like there was any real teaching. Textbook is awful. Tests were abysmally hard. Honors version did nothing different. Take physics online or DPP.

This man pulls his tests out of the firey depths of hell. There has not been a single test where I feel like I had seen the content on all of the questions, there was always one, usually many, with concepts that were not in the lecture, studio, lab, or textbook. If you have to take this class get into an SI table asap.

I don't even think you can call Paul a professor because he can't teach. Textbook was poorly written with not enough information, Challenge Homework was ridiculously hard, exams were also poorly written and completely different from what we practice in class. The physics department at OSU sucks. Take all of your physics classes at LBCC is possible.