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Worst teacher I've ever had in my life. TAKE SOMEONE ELSE!!!!!! You will regret taking him, seriously.

Character reference--- he is rude and thinks he is above everyone. Not a nice person in general.

sucks

Can't walk without falling around, just sucks... Not recommended for anybody. Thinks he is cool which makes it soo much worse...

You can tell he really likes physics and understands it but he's a very poor teacher. He talks above you, even 1 on 1, you can't understand him. I thought Kohler was bad until i took Devaty's class. Kohler is awesome.

Devity just blows. That's about it.

he is such an akward, nerdy, rude person...he knows his stuff, but can't get it across to the students

Prof. Devaty likes to act likehe's good, but he's not

Devaty is killing the dream

Has to be the worst professor ever.

One of the worst professors I've ever had (though it seems that the entire physics department at Pitt is awful). He's very dry, doesn't explain anything well, often gets off track, and provides no useful online notes. I wouldn't recommend him to even my worst enemy.

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he sucks

By far the worst teacher I have had at the University of PIttsburgh! Unclear and unwilling to answer questions. Steer away.

just bad. Does an awful job communicating, and is just as bad in his office hours. Doesn't give fair partial credit on tests: he only accepts an answer if it is how he would do it, even if it is correct. Unless you have taken AP physics and are very solid in it, you will have to teach yourself the material. my advice: AVOID.

Bad. Just bad. Has no idea how to teach students who aren't experts in Electricity and Magnetism. Reading the book as fast as you can is better than Devaty's lectures. If you get stuck with him, read the book and do as much practice as possible. Otherwise, Run Away and Avoid at all costs!!

Not a very exciting or clear teacher, which frustrated a lot of people. I always read ahead and outlined each lecture before class, which helped a lot. You're gonna have to learn a lot on your own. Even one-on-one, he is pretty confusing and almost condescending. You won't have a good time but you can get a good grade (after curve) if you work hard

I've literally become worse at physics from AP Physics in high school to now.

Devaty covers a lot a material in such short time and I say "covers" material because he does not teach it. He does the bare minimum of teaching. When it comes to tests, they are challenging yet should be do-able, but he grades them extremely hard and rather inconsistently. He is too socially inept to talk to so office hours are useless.

Devaty does not know how to socially interact with his students or anyone, really. This makes it tough from the start. His tests are hard and his grading of them is even worse. He does not know how to answer questions about the test and will not admit if he makes errors in his grading (which is very inconsistent).

His powerpoints are a summarization of the textbook, which is sort of helpful. No help at all in class. Just do work during the class, you have to show up to get credit for clicker questions.

Worst teacher I have ever had by far. Try to get someone to answer your clicker questions and just skip and learn the material on your own. I would not normally recommend scheduling by teacher, but seriously AVOID at all costs. Devaty is an anchor... for you soul.

DO NOT TAKE! Must be one of the worst college professors.

left class knowing less than before. Homework through lon capa, lots and difficult-google helps w problems. Notes unclear focused on derivation not application. 30 test pts of extra credit. Test avgs 58,44&56. Doesnt curve til end but large curve. Difficult clicker questions for credit in class. Practice tests deceitfully easy. Doesnt follow book

Condescending and rude.

physics 1 freshman engineer- only had basic physics in high school and it seemed like that hurt me. i would not take flipped class like pitt offers but wouldve been better than devaty. laughs at his own jokes, refuses to answer questions, tests are harder than homework, did not understand homework, confusing always, too smart to explain clearly

Quite possibly the hardest course I have ever taken and I have taken upper level calculus courses as well a AP Physics. He acts as though he and his subject content was signifigantly superior to the engineering students he taught. He is very hard to understand and assumes that you are a physics expert. I would not take him again. Stay away.

Boring and doesnt know how to explain anything

This guy doesn't actually teach. He makes the people in his class explain the problem in front of the whole class.

worst teacher in the world.

Had him for Physics 1, my first semester of college. Even if the average of an exam is a failing grade, he doesn't evaluate his one skill. Goes on random tangents A LOT. I wish I would have read the book more to teach myself because he was all over the place. He was at the university for research- definitely evident he was not made to be a prof.

This man sucks. We are a million lectures behind right now and he is NEVER prepared for a single zoom class. We've had multiple lectures that just crashed or did not function and the whole class hates him. The only reason I am not failing this class is because I'm studying my butt off, it has NOTHING TO DO WITH DEVATY. TAKE ANY OTHER CLASS.

You will depend on your TA

This dude is astoundingly bad. He is by far the worst professor I've ever had in college. He doesn't explain anything well and just throws the information in front of you. He doesn't do many examples in class and he relies on other people's lectures to actually teach you the information. Do not take his class

I took Devatys class in Fall 2020, so the class was entirely remote. His inability to use a computer made lectures unbearable and at some times completely unavailable. He was at times disrespectful to students and TAs. He only read off slides and any examples he had were never explained, he would just show his work from years past. Avoid Devaty.

Professor Devaty is atrocious. He is extremely condescending to both students and TAs and cannot teach a class to save his life. All the "learning" you will be doing in the class will be from your TA or on your own. Lectures are extremely unhelpful due to his inability to explain things at an entry level. Save your grade and time. Take anyone else.

I will preface this by saying that I think Professor Devaty is on the whole a nice guy. I had him for the online fall semester and he struggled very hard with the technological aspects of the class which, while not entirely his fault, made the class needlessly difficult. He explains things okay during lectures, but is a super harsh grader on exams.

One of the worst profs. you can find in the department. Avoid if you can, and avoid if you can't. Extremely unhelpful in every regard you could imagine. Ask him a question and get met with a stare. He is socially inept as well, which you will notice if you even attempt a conversation with him. All around awful teacher.

Devaty is horrible. One of the classic professors that only cares about his research. Exams are extremely tough and nothing on them is straightforward. I have spent much more time on this class then I ever could have imagined. He is also inept at using tech. Take Nero if you can, your GPA will thank you.

The TAs were the only reason I learned anything and barely passed. Lectures were powerpoints that were at least half filled with irrelevant information. He had very few practice problems, expected students to get concepts quickly and not need examples. Brushed over a lot of topics that were necessary for exams and still sometimes ran out of time.

Do not take this class unless you are a second semester senior and need it to graduate and its the last section. I'm not kidding. A train wreck would understate how needlessly confusing and difficult this class is, with final exam averages of 50. Stay far, far away. There is nothing to be learned here. Not to mention the ridiculous tophat questions

I hate this man

I would never have this professor again, one of the TA called Xue,Rui. He teaches a lot better than Devaty, with a lot simple concept.

Taking his class=Walking to hell

Never. Again.

Do absolutely anything in your power to not take this class. This man is actually unreal. Devaty is obviously a research professor, so he is just simply not a good teacher; there's no other way to put it. I cannot believe that Pitt lets this man teach after all of these awful reviews, so be careful and do anything you can to take Nero and Good.

I had a hard time keeping up with the pace of this class. He would introduce new topics with less than 5 minutes left in class and assume we had it down for the next lecture. He had weekly homework that was pretty intensive and complicated. I dropped the class after the first midterm. It wasn't as complicated as the homework but all open ended.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, TAKE THIS MAN'S COURSE. Here's some exam averages: 1 = 51.2%, 2 = 68.4%, 3 = 62.8%. He "doesn't know what a curve is," and you're expected to deal. He's very scatter-brained, and consistently interrupts students when they ask questions, thinking he knows the question. The only reason I survived was the TA's help.

cannot teach and doesn't care about students whatsoever. I don't know how this man is still allowed to teach here.

his lectures were so incredibly boring that i stopped paying attention after the 1st exam. he uses Nero's practice/ examples so just take nero instead if you can. his youtube practice problems were the only reason I passed the exams. big curve at the end of the semester though

Never. Again

He's a sweet guy and he's trying his best I'm sure, but I really, really don't think teaching is the career for him. Three tests or so, curved the final, I think. Just pray you understand the material.

Awful at teaching. Just spews formulas with a horrible attempt at explanation. Unless you've covered the concepts in earlier classes, you'll have to teach yourself the course. Only the beginning was easy.

He mostly does example problems in lecture using Dr. Nero's notes, so if you really want to take this class just take Nero. He does not explain where most of the concepts come from and just whizzes through the material. The three exams are tough and take a long time to be graded. I would not recommend taking him if you need to pass Physics.

This has to be the worst professor ever. He can't teach. Lectures are VERY dense. low class averages for all three exams. He can't teach. just goes through his slides all of lecture. the TA's teach more than him. Had to follow Nero's lectures to get a somewhat decent grade on the exams. He CANNOT teach. if u have a choice, DO NOT TAKE DEVATY.

This is the worst professor I have ever had. The lectures were so terrible that even when I knew what he was going to lecture on, I still got lost in his words. It got to a point where not going to lectures made it easier to understand the material.

Came out more confused and knowing less than I did before. He just mumbles for 50+ mins about formulas that aren't on ANY exam. Cannot explain anything. Less than a minute left means he is legally obligated to start a new topic. You can get the answer right but lose most points if done differently than he did. DO NOT TAKE. SAVE YOURSELF THE PAIN.

Very frustrated with the lectures because they were very confusing and he would mumble a lot. I once attempted to read ahead for the lecture but it doesn't work. Very nice guy who would offer help outside of class, but listening to the lecture will confuse you more. Also very low exam averages that will kill your soul slowly.

If you have a background in physics the first half of the class is manageable. However, once you get to any new material you realize the guy can not teach. His lectures are useless for the exams, I personally learned nothing directly from him or his lectures. He is super unhelpful if you have a question and secretive about curving.

Genuinely unbelievable prof. Somehow scraped a B- but midterm exam averages are extremely low and he never announces the curve. Top Hat for attendance, but he's willing to reopen questions. Lecture was pretty pointless and left more confused when I went. Ridiculous pacing and flew through the last couple chapters.

The only reason I kind of knew what was going on was because I had some prior physics knowledge. His lectures were so easy to get lost in. Nero teaches a lot of the same courses and is more helpful as an instructor, so take him if you have the option. He did offer some extra credit which seemed to be helpful in the end.

I had this guy for 174 and swore I wouldn't take him again, but here we are. I went to around three lectures the entire year. This is a hard class, and the only reason I passed is because of high school knowledge. Just watch Nero's videos and study online. It's just... sad. Please know that Physics is fun, don't get the wrong impression from him.

Dr. Devaty was a terrible teacher. His lectures were hard to follow, and he is a very scatterbrained. I recommend taking Dr. Nero instead. If you are stuck with Devaty though, I recommend using his study guides as well as getting old exams from previous students to prepare for his exams. Expect around a 3% curve to your final grade.