Great lecturer, nice course support stuff, assignments and tests just right.

The previous person did not know what he is talking about. Dr. Langill is a great prof. He is quite interesting and fun.

ditto to fourth entry from bottom

I HATE physics and had to take it. However, Dr. Langill is the best physics prof I have ever had. He really made the class much more pleasant. He is always cheerful and awake, even at 8am, and tries his best to help us like physics.

Awesome prof. Charismatic, witty and energetic.

greatest teacher at the university so far. very good and entertaining teacher. thanks for a job well done.

Anyone that can help me do ANY physics correctly is in my good books. Funny and quirky.

It is a boreing class but he helps make it interesting. I always had enough examples to complete the assignments.

Very good prof - although the lecture material is boring and it's really hard to make physics interesting, he does his very best. Prepares you well for exams, and gives tons of examples to do assignments/labs with. Very, very curteous to students and their questions.

Dr. Langil has made this course alot easier then you would think. His overhead notes are alittle sloppy; however, you can still follow along. He has the knowledge for this class. His office hours are quite flexible and is very helful. I suggest that you take this course with him only.

Very good at explaining things, but his notes are kind of erratic and not really helpful.

He is such a nice professor I can hardly forget although I did not take his lecture. I regret finding that point almost at the end of the semester. He helped me so much even though he knew I was not in his lecture. Good luck to Dr. Langill!

Truly a fantastic teacher. Very knowledgeable and able to teach. Also very professional and easy to respect. This is the type of person deserves the respect of being called a Professor.

He only substituted in my astr 205 class because the regular prf (Taylor) was out of town. He has a great sense of humor and explains concepts very well.

Good proff. Much better than Hicks. Explains concerpts well. Understanding.

Good lectures, but can't decipher my notes afterwards.

Good guy. Notes are very bad, they are not organized at all. However, he is a nice guy with a good sense of humour and willing to help at anytime. Cares about his students alot. If you pay attention in lecture and don't rely on notes, he is great.

Phil's a great guy. I can see why he's won awards. He is kind of all over the place but when you go to the RAO and when he's just explaining things, it just doesn't matter. You have fun because its interesting, not because you have to.

Great guy and very helpful.

Overall a good prof. But his notes organization are a little disorganized. Have a sense of humour.

Hands down, the best physics instructor at the university

He's hot and very nice

Best Physics Prof I've ever had

He's SO great! He really respects his students and treats them like equals. Not at all arrogant, and funny in a cute way (oh man, chalk brush questions...) :) Very personable & charismatic. If you need organization, it is something his notes lack...but hey, he's interesting! His class is the only one I'm ever happy to go to. God bless Dr Langill!

He's the most amazing prof I've ever had. I though I hated physics and he changed my mind. He makes it easy to understand and even made the 8am class bearable. He's funny and enthusiastic, but not in an annoying way. Hes very helpful and always goes out of his way for his students. He gave us candy too... mmm

Perhaps the most stereotypical little physics nerd in history. Be patient with him. Great teacher and will go to AMAZING lengths to help people.

One of the best professors I have ever had. Very enthusiastic about the material and has a reason to be! Funnest class ever. We went out to the observatory to take pictures of stars and eat donuts. It really doesn't get much better than that. Super funny too. I totally agree with the stereotypical physics nerd comment.

As many people said, probably the most friendly prof s at U of C, great guy who knows anything from quantum physics to cosmology. His final was one of the two finals I was actually sad when it finished, that's how much I loved the whole astronomy course and his lectures. Will remain friends with him for years, he is a great person. gem at U of C

Langil was clear, precise, and thorough. The "A" high school student should not blame his/her incapability to learn Uni-level Science. Sorry to say, if you sucked at Physics, especially 221, you're not University material. Those A's in high school and being a valedictorian mean absolutely nothing in University. Langill present everything clearly

Nice guy, very willing to help; however, clarity is not always 100%. Notes are hand written rather than on power points, so not everybody likes it. It really depends on what method you learn best with. Overall not a bad prof, lectures were a bit dry though >.<

Compared to all my 300 level courses this is a joke. I did not go to many lectures (though he does do clickers) and I studied a few days before each midterm and did decently well. Langil is a good prof, he's enthusiastic, which is a plus. If you grasp Physics easily, take Langil for an easy lecture. If you don't I recommend Bill Willson.

Well, he is passionate and a really good prof but he is always behind compared to other profs. Because he goes off topic and wastes class time and later rushes to finish it. But he is helpful after class and he does lots of question in class so you will understand it easily. however, he never replied to email regrading marks!

Excited about teaching concepts but doesn't do problems in class often and when he does they are straight from the text. Tries to get you excited about learning physics. Intelligent prof. He likes challenging students on midterms and finals.

He's a super nice and funny guy, Enthusiastic when he teaches, and makes funny big bang theory and harry potter references.

Dr Phil is so nice and really enthusiastic. Although this isn't exactly an easy course, if you do the work there are lots of opportunities for easy marks. Favorite class of the semester.

The best professor ever. He is soo funny, and such a nice guy. I always find a good laugh in class. He tends to be a bit behind but that's only because he actually tries to make his classes interesting. He's absolutely fantastic!

Great Professor. Lots of examples and extra notes provided. He goes over many problems from past exams that showed up on his midterms and final. Hard to learn if you dont attend lectures but I found I enjoyed them thouroughly. Seems happy to be teaching and is always engaged. I would recommend him to fellow students.

Nice guy, ok prof. He doesn't really go through any detail, but you will be able to get general concepts during lecture. Does not reply to e-mail. and is late to his office hours.

Best prof out there. Always willing to help. Answered out of topic (science) questions.

Langill is a respectable prof: very knowledgeable and intelligent. He will explain concepts, but not solve problems. He spends some time rambling and did not teach some of the material that was on the exam. His notes and lectures were hard to follow (maybe because the material itself was more difficult). He cares for students as people.

Overall, the course is pretty easy (not as easy as 221, but close). If you take the time to read the textbook, actually work on the assignments (rather than Googling answers) and attend lecture, you'll have no problem. Dr. Langill is a great guy/ instructor. His notes are handwritten, but incomplete. If you understand the material you'll be fine.

The prof is a great guy. If you need some help go to him personally and he will explain everything well. Don't even bother going 2 the lectures. If u need to, get the labs from someone who has taken the class, and copy them. if doing this, do understand the labs for the final. Everyone fails the first test, second is better and third is the easiest

patience is a virtue in this class. u may feel overwhelmed but if u keep on top of everything, things will come together in the end. He's a super friendly prof and cares about students.

HILARIOUS if you like cheesy jokes, which I do. Sometimes gets sidetracked. Huge astronomy geek. VERY friendly. Sometimes for assignments you need to pull a formula out of the textbook. It's possible to learn from either the textbook alone I guess, but there's lots of content in the textbook that isn't covered. Old exams are posted. It's a blessing

Read the text before lectures and labs. Ask (and learn to create) critical conceptual questions during and especially after lectures. Don't bother taking notes. Only look at examples. Do text questions or fail. Ask him 4 help! Memorizing will fail you. Expect tough final. Try hard and you WILL do well, even with 6 courses in 1st year!

Gives clear explanations of concepts, and is very engaged in helping students to learn.

A really cool professor. You won't get bored in his lecture if you pay attention. He makes difficult concepts easier to understand than reading them on your own. However, you'll have to attend every of his lecture because he doesn't post electronic notes for each lecture as often as most professors do. He's a very fun guy.

This is relevant for any class you might take with Dr. Langill. He's a funny guy, knows his stuff (mostly). But he is the physical embodiment of the phrase "Fly by the seat of your pants", projects undergo little to no testing to ensure they are doable, and exams are not usually completed in the given time frame.

He is an excellent prof. I thoroughly enjoyed his class. He makes the notes clear and is entertaining to listen to. The labs and exams that he wrote were reasonable and were not hard to do well on. I am hoping I have the opportunity to do another one of his classes! This would be good for someone that is scared to take a physics class.

He teaches very good. And he gives very clear lectures

I'm going to have to disagree with the others - I really enjoyed this class. Lectures were interesting and complex concepts were simplified and explained clearly. However, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's not fairly comfortable with math and the final was on the long side. A ton of the grade was basically just participation though.

Was the final long? Absolutely. However it's level of difficulty was not any more challenging than the midterm or assignments. I think most students fell into the trap of online class / open book final / not putting the effort into studying and Langill got them (rightly so). Super interesting class with relatively easy to understand concepts.

Labs are interesting and make you think, he doesnt spoon feed you, tests are long but arent we here to learn? It was a difficult time for all transitioning to online learning, he remained upbeat and positive throughout, a genuinely nice person, and quit a bit more knowledgeable than he lets on. Very interested in Astronomy.

Big fan of his lectures and the way he explains certain complicated concepts. As I am an arts major this was very helpful. Midterm exam was conducted through TopHat, and locked you out if you left the exam window (even though the exam was "open book"). Assignments are the perfect length and not too difficult with plenty of time to finish them.

Really passionate guy and would totally recommend this class for someone who is good at math and physics. However, please think carefully if you aren't strong with math. I am not and the math components of this class have been a real struggle.

Very kind, accommodating professor. Very funny, light-hearted, cares a lot about his subject, but his lectures were a little unnecessary (lots of tangents). If you read the textbook and do well on the assignments, you'll be fine. But make sure you have good mathematical knowledge or you probably won't do well.

The lectures were often unnecessary and he likes to go on some tangents. There is more math than expected In the course so if you're an arts major looking for a science requirement beware. The textbook was really helpful and the main thing you need to do well. You have to purchase an extra online code for assignments.

Phil is the sweetest man ever, from bring your pet to class day to crazy hat day, he was so kind and funny. On the other hand as an actual prof he is not super great. Super unclear notes and I feel like I don't know how to do anything in this class.

Dr. Langill doesn't spoonfeed the content like in high school, so it requires active learning on the student's part (ie you can't just listen to the lectures or read his notes.) He loves using tophat (for marks) which is terrifying at first, but the questions are actually very helpful for studying! Overall, an enthusiastic, engaging, and fun prof!

Langill was a nice and caring professor. His lectures could be slightly confusing but I blame it on his absolute passion for his field. He did have his exams on Tophat which were insanely confusing but would always try his best to support us. I would read the textbook more if you want to do well in this class but would take a class of his again!

It's really obvious that Dr. Langill loves his field. Did I retain everything that I learned? Probably not. But if I decided that I wanted to learn even more about space, I would happily go to Dr. Langill for another course. He wasn't the best prof I encountered, but he was pretty good!

Good teacher, loves physics, laugh at his physics jokes.

Dr. Langill is very engaging in his lectures. He cares about his students and does what he can to ensure their success. His notes are difficult to read, however, if you show up to lectures and read the sections in the textbook he advises you to, you should do just fine. Dr. Langill is also very accessible outside of class.

An absolutely amazing professor who clearly has a passion for physics and cares about his students. I looked forward to his nerdy physics jokes and his lectures. My only complaint is most of my learning came from the textbook, but overall he was great. Also very helpful and accessible outside of class.

I think some comments are unfair. He's animated and passionate about the topic, seems like a fair grader, and is more engaging than profs who just read off power point slides for an hour, because his lectures give real examples and demonstrations of the concepts from the (100% free) textbook. You just have to engage if you want to learn.

Prof Langilll was an amazing prof, we had 6 assignments total for this class, the class is textbook heavy but if you read the textbook you can keep up easily. It is an easy class just very material heavy as is any other class. Amazing and interesting lectures he tries to make the lectures very fun and informative

Dr. Langill was a very good professor, I just struggled with the material. I will say that you can find the textbook he uses online for free at Anna's Archive. This course is pretty content heavy and he values attendance by having tophat worth 5% of your final grade, he also had weekly assessment that are together worth 35% to help.

Awesome dude! assignments are made to learn, not challenge and classes are fun