2.7
Quality3.5
Difficulty45%
Would Retake127
Reviews45%
Would Retake
127
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
32
4
18
3
10
2
16
1
51
What Students Say
“Not hard, thankfully, since you hardly learn”
PHY1 - 2.0 rating“You don't end up learning very much at all”
PHY01 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
90%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.26 avg changeRatings by Course
PHYS01
5.0
(1)PSY2
5.0
(1)PHYSICS1
4.5
(2)PHYS001
4.0
(1)PHY2
4.0
(5)Difficulty by Course
PHYS1
4.0
PHY02
4.0
PHYS2
3.7
PHY12
3.6
PHY0001
3.6
Reviews (127)
Meh. Not hard, thankfully, since you hardly learn. Too many attempts to reinvent how the class is done which is a good concept (who doesn't like an enthusiastic professor?) but his attempts to draw out student participation lead to a lack of actual teaching.
He is passionate about physics but he is applying his passion in the wrong ways. He doesn't believe in practice problems and his go to learning solution is to literally sit on it and think about the concepts. You don't end up learning very much at all. I'm feel like I wasted my whole semester with him.
Professor Vesal really cares about his students. He responds to my emails in less than 2 minutes (a record!) and truly wants us to worry as little as possible about our grades and genuinely learn. That being said, I think that the flipped-classroom style of teaching doesn't work for most of us. I would have preferred to learn the material in class.
Vesal is probably my favorite teacher ever. He cares so much it's inspiring. His classes are "reversed" and some people don't like that, but some people do! 350 characters are not enough to do this man justice but I am so grateful that I didn't just memorize equations. I really learned and understood physics and I really appreciate him for that.
He is very enthusiastic about Physics. However, he is NOT a great professor. He encourages higher level of physics thinking by "reasoning" out our confusions and talking through problems. But he barely teaches in lecture and just talks alot. Prepare to teach yourself everything and he is especially bad at teaching electromagnetism. Tests are hard.
Vesal is kind and caring but is one of the worst professors I've ever had at Tufts. His method of teaching is not conducive to learning, and he always tells students to come to "help hours", but then doesn't show up, or won't help unless more than a few people show up. Lectures are a waste of time; Vesal doesn't know how to answer his own questions
I will give Vesal credit that he actually tries to teach Physics, but he's not a great professor, as in when explaining concepts in class, he sometimes confuses the class more than to begin with. Additionally, he will selectively answer questions on the Piazza page even if students have asked valid questions.
He gets a lot of unwarranted flack because pre-meds are looking for an easy A by stale, route memorization and are fine with didactic lectures. Vesal truly cares about his students understanding the fundamental concepts of physics, not whether we can "plug and chug" equations. I feel like I still remember a lot of what I learned because of that.
I think Vesal is quite the underrated professor, but it is perfectly understandable due to his teaching style/method. He is someone who puts a lot of emphasis on understanding the materials rather than making his students human calculators. Thus not only is he one of my favorite professors at Tufts but he is the best physics instructor I had.
Vesal is one of the only professors at Tufts who truly cares about his students learning to think differently. This class is not conventional and that scares a lot of people but Vesal ensures that if you seek his help he is there to provide it. Use the resources he gives you (help hrs, recitations) and you will really learn to love his methods!
Vesal is amazing. Some people doubt his class structure and methods (I was once one of them), but I am a full convert now. The issue that some students have is that HE CHALLENGES YOU TO THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THE MATERIAL, which seems to be the point of college to me. Give the class a chance and you will actually learn Physics, and I even had fun.
I wish I could say more as to how much I loved his class - one of the most dedicated professors I have ever had. Be warned, this is not a "drill and kill" class, so you will not be asked to memorize formulas. His passion for pedagogical theory shines through in his approach to physics from a refreshingly critical and philosophical perspective.
Vesal truly wants his students to go beyond understand concepts and really think about what they are learning. While some students probably didn't enjoy his methods, I found it very beneficial that instead of relying on equations and getting a correct answer, you were graded on your thinking and analyzing. You are praised for asking questions.
I have never had a professor or teacher in my past that cared more about me actually learning the material than Vesal. He was happy to sit down with students for hours each week, trying to come up with ways to re-explain the material so that it made sense in each persons head (which is not easy with physics concepts). Very caring and awesome guy.
I really enjoyed PHY 1 with Prof. Dini. The reversed classroom was a little difficult to adjust to at first, but by the end I knew physics like the back of my hand. The tests were very fair, and there was lots of partial credit since grading was based mostly on clear reasoning. Would highly recommend taking physics with Vesal.
Took PHY 2 with Vesal and really loved it. He forces you to think outside the box and reason with concepts rather than memorize equations. Tests were short answer, but there was a lot of partial credit. In class you do a lot of practice problems and if you understand how those work you will do great. One of my favorite professors at Tufts.
Vesal really cares about his students. Ideally he'd want to meet one-on-one with each of us and give us all A's for hard work/ interest. He's trying to move away from plugging and chugging. Physics doesnt make sense if you dont think about how/why things are happening. He wants us to make sense of confusion, which sounds annoying, give him a chance
Physics inherently makes sense, but it really doesn't half the time. Vesal will get you to sit down and think about an idea until it makes sense. No plugging and chugging, no derivatives, etc. Just you and an idea. He cares more about his students than any professor ive ever had and truly wants to give everyone A's. He's honest, fair, and smart AF.
He needs to learn to communicate with his TAs. He emphasizes concepts more than knowing formulas, and on exams he wants us to express our confusion and ideas to get partial credit. However, the TAs ignore that and when you talk to him about it, he doesn't do anything to change it so it becomes difficult to do well in the course.
For someone that does not have a strong physics background, Vesal makes it difficult to do well in the class. He is stubborn about the way he teaches which makes it challenging for students who don't learn that way. I've had other flipped classrooms and his method is not helpful because his lectures consist of pollev questions without much teaching
Loved PHY 1 with Vesal. Thought he did a great job with the reversed classroom. Learned the concepts really well, and didn't have to worry too much about math errors and tricky formulas. Lots of easy ways to get points during the class. Clearly cares more about learning than the grade.
Vesal really cares that students LEARN instead of rote memorize for exams. Thought the class was really fair and feel ready for the MCAT and my future endeavors because of it. Not too difficult either if you keep up with the problem sets and pre-lectures. Make sure you go to class, since test questions are really similar. Would highly recommend.
Physics 1 and 2 with Vesal was definitely a challenge, but as someone who just took the MCAT, I felt so much more prepared for it then I would have been had I just memorized equations. You definitely have to put effort into the class, but if you put in the effort to really learn the content, it will help a lot in other classes/MCAT studying.
I thoroughly enjoyed Professor Dini's class even though I struggled through it. His material was difficult because he made you think, but if you went to office hours and met with him he often helped you think about the material really well. The goal is to think deeply about the material and I was able to do well doing that.
This is a flipped classroom, which means lots of work and open-ended questions. This can be challenging for students who are only used to solve questions with answer keys. I study humanities but took PHY1 to learn how to think based on physical science, and it did exactly that. Plus, Vesal allows you to make mistakes so long as you learn from them.
The best word to describe Vesals class and teaching style is refreshing. He pushes you to really think about the material in ways that may seem uncomfortable at first but are deeply rewarding and effective in the end. Ive never seen a professor care more about his students. He genuinely wants everyone to understand the material and do well.
Great, Compassionate Professor willing to take the time and care to ensure you understand and can succeed. It is a different approach than some might be used to. I prefer the lectures because it helps you really understand, not just know how to pass a test and then forget everything. He helped me tremendously the entire year, I am very grateful.
Vesal approaches lectures differently than others, who might teach difficult physics by making you mindlessly memorize equations that make no sense. Rather, he actually cares about your learning and wants you to understand why those equations work. I still remember most things because of the way he taught. It's different, but well worth the effort.
Honestly, I always thought though that Vesal might be more appreciated by physics majors who actually care about the subject, rather than pre meds taking phy1 because they have to. The flipped classroom thing and the emphasis on concepts rather than equations is slightly hard at times, but with the right attitude its so rewarding and intresting
He's a great professor who cares about his students. He's very open to feedback. Also, he's willing to break down question through different perspectives, and he's willing to stay after class to clear any confusion. The recipe for success is to do the pre-lectures, attend class, ask question if you're confused, and do to weekly pbset.
Vesal is a truly caring professor and wants to make sure that you learn and understand physics thoroughly by taking his classes. Occasionally his lectures seem a little unorganized or can be hard to follow but he isn't demanding that you learn a ton of material throughout the course. He always has office hours and is understanding with grades!
Took Physics 1 w Vesal last fall. The material was very concept-based, and the class required time/effort but it was all rewarded! Lots of support outside of class. (Help hours were very useful and Vesal made himself available.) Class was definitely difficult at times and required a new type of thinking but experience was really fulfilling overall.
Worst professor I have ever had at Tufts. Take this class somewhere else.
I took Physics 1 and 2 with Vesal in 2018/2019. While I admit that the flipped classroom can be a little confusing at first and very frustrating in the moment, it's worth trying. I did actually retain more information than usual and I felt like I learned a lot about problem solving. If you're having difficulties, be sure to ask for help!
After taking this class, it is clear that enthusiasm is not proportional to quality in teaching. This professor emphasizes a new style in learning but we hardly learn at all. Nice guy, but I rather take physics 2 somewhere else now.
Honestly 95% of the learning in this class is done outside of lecture. Professor Dini is an amazing person, but does not really teach. Most of class is spent talking about one or two practice problems and most often the correct answer is never discussed. He ultimately means well and truly cares that you learn physics but does not teach the material
Vesal cares about his students but doesn't teach any material at all! we usually go over an average of two problems in class and people are always unsure of what the correct answer even is. would not recommend at all. not taking physics 2 here next semester just because of him.
Vesal is simply one of the worst professors I've ever had at Tufts. He cares about his students but he has no idea how to teach physics. The majority of class is spent going through only 2-3 questions, and after class no one knows what the answers are. Only students with a strong physics background can do well in his class.
Vesal is a very caring professor and really wants you to succeed. The lectures are mostly flipped classrooms in which you go through the content via videos/textbook outside of class and discuss problems in class. He makes you engage with the material and it can be frustrating at times, but overall it's very rewarding and not hard to do well!
I dropped the physics major after taking this class. I cannot stand the way that this class is taught. Research may say this is the best way to teach, but it was clearly not working for me and the other students. Other professors may not teach this way, but that's probably why I am learning more in those other classes.
Vesal is super caring and if you show him that you're putting a lot of effort in the class, he'll definitely take that into account when grading. He's always open to meeting you outside of class and is all around a super great person. Physics is one of my least favorite subjects but Vesal's demonstrations and resources made it a lot more doable!
People complain about flipped classroom, but he genuinely believes in encouraging students to understand the concepts rather than memorizing formulas, which is why he spends so much time on one problem. If you go to office hours and make an effort, he is very accessible and willing to help. He is also responsive to feedback, so just talk to him!!
One of the most caring and and committed professors I've had. What helped me most was identifying my points of confusion, attending recitations or office hours, and discussing homework problems with classmates. The deep, conceptual learning style has helped me during my MCAT studying. Regardless of your physics background, you will be supported.
I hate to be rude or disrespectful because he's human but Vesal is straight up the worst professor I've ever had at Tufts. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. If you're premed and need the class, take it at home or over the summer and save yourself the stress
I do everything Vesal suggests to do well in the class and it still doesn't help. He sits in class and stares at the board because he doesn't know how to answer his own questions. He's never straight up answered a question all semester from a student because half the time he doesn't know the answer himself
Incredibly caring, and really puts the emphasis on learning and thinking rather than correct answers. Physics is hard, but he makes the class manageable. Lectures don't always seem on topic, and a lot of learning has to be done on your own. But he is very helpful during help hours as well as recitations. Definitely go! They're better than lectures
The embodiment of horrible teaching. The grading is extremely harsh and goes against his "beliefs" in teaching. There are professors who can make the flipped classroom method work, but not him. Also, a chunk of the positive reviews were him asking students to submit positive reviews. If possible, I would give an even lower score. Repulsive.
Overall, Vesal genuinely cares about his students, and it's refreshing. I've never taken a physics course before and have been doing just fine . My biggest piece of advice is to take the prelecture videos seriously . There's NO need to take this class at another school. 1/3 of every exam is literally graded on effort/lots of partial credit given.
Vesal claims to care about his students' learning process through a flipped classroom, but still thinks it's okay to disregard their concerns about the class format not working and further ignores students who need flexibility due to chronic health conditions. He cares more about proving his method than his students' wellbeing and it shows.
I took physics 1 and 2 with Vesal. It is a flipped class, so lectures are assigned for homework and class consists of reviewing concepts and examples, so a lot of learning is on your own. The class was difficult because it relies on theoretical understanding rather than memorization. However, it is very possible to do well if you put in the work.
The grading system does not match his teaching beliefs. He preaches and "supposedly" cares about learning from mistakes. Yet, when we showcase our logic and thinking, we are penalized heavily.
Vesal is a nice guy, but his teaching style isn't for everyone. I enjoyed his class because I learn best alone, but if you want someone to "just" give you the answer and explain how to get there this isn't the class for you. Not all his explanations are clear, but I took this as a push for us to think harder by ourselves before expecting an answer.
Asked a bunch of former students who did well in his class to rate him on this platform. He's not a great teacher, but he is a very kind and a well-meaning person. I think he might just be flustered and getting used to being a professor. You don't really have to study for tests-- it won't really help you anyways! You'll do fine if you work hard.
Vesal cares greatly about his students and their learning. He teaches in a flipped classroom style, which I am not very fond of, but was honestly pretty easy to do well in. 1/3 of each test is about explaining your reasoning, and the other 2/3 is concept application. If you understand big picture concepts and can reason logically, you will do fine.
Some people don't like the course because it's a flipped classroom, which is totally valid. The great thing about the course is that you'll finally fully understand your learning style, which will be incredibly helpful for other classes, too. Vesal is supportive and understanding. At the end of the day, if you try your best, you'll do just fine.
really good teacher! you learn a lot. although people often are resistant to his style of teaching (reverse classroom) at first, once you lean into it I found it was soooo much easier than the other normal premed classes. If you participate and engage, you don't even really have to study for exams. also, super nice, accessible, and caring prof.
Vesal is an incredibly caring professor who is trying to do something new with his teaching style. He really emphasises critical thinking and process-based learning, which for some students is hard to adjust to, but is so important in life. If you put in the time and effort, you can and will be totally fine in this class--just go with it!!
Vesal tries very hard and wants to make class engaging, but it just sucks. Lectures are not straight forward and his theory of teaching is so annoying and inefficient. Seems that it is a flip of a coin to see if you will do well on a test. Labs are tedious and not related to course work, so that is frustrating.
Vesal always seems confused when talking in class and is not a great explainer. Be ready to try to learn all the material by yourself because class is pretty much a joke. Nice guy but terrible professor. Take this class somewhere else if possible.
This guy is probably the most frustrating professor to work with at Tufts. He pretends to care about his students but he really doesn't, he just cares about doing his "flipped classroom" - which doesn't work (no surprise there)! You don't actually learn in his class, you just regurgitate "reasoning" back to him on exams with irrelevant questions
Is the flipped classroom model difficult to get used to at first? Yes, but don't let that deter you from taking the course. Vesal is the most caring professor I've had at Tufts, especially during COVID. You are entitled only to the grade that you earn in this class, and that means you have to put in a lot of work, but I felt supported throughout!
Vesal is nice and he seems to care about his students. But personally, I didn't like his style because he doesn't summarize what we learned in the lecture. Since it's a flipped classroom, we watched videos throughout the week and then in the lectures we discussed in groups. The lectures are mandatory for attendance, but we didn't learn anything.
He is probably one of the worst professors I've ever had. He spends way too much time going over the wrong answers rather than the right one and makes you more confused after class than before it. He spends most of lecture going over 1-2 questions that are very ambiguous/confusing and always goes over time. Would not recommend!! Take physics 11/12
Vesal is one of the best professors I've had at Tufts. Many dislike his teaching style because it's not regular lectures, but rather lots of critical thinking and application. He taught difficult physics concepts in the most memorable way possible. He is a wonderful human being and professor and I would highly recommend his class.
Pset and quiz grades are arbitrary since the material is so conceptual. Class organization and grading is a mess. Lectures are confusing, watch the pre-lectures. Calc-based AP Physics was easier to understand than this class, since Vesal doesn't like using formulas to explain relationships. Physics1 isn't hard, just annoying.
Unbelievably kind man, fairly ineffective professor. If you thought your physics class was gonna deal with numbers and formulas, think again.
He's a very nice person, just is really disorganized and doesn't notice that his teaching style is confusing and ineffective. Also there's no standardized grading so it can be really unfair during quizzes and psets because it seems like TA's just choose a random grade and can't explain why. Overall easy class but very frustrating to sit through.
The structure of his Physics 2 class was very focused on group discussion which isn't my favorite style. Once I got past that it was a decent class; you can very easily get a good grade by doing the minimum, i.e. do all the assignments. Sometimes his focus on making students explain instead of confirming the right answer caused me confusion.
This was my least favorite class at Tufts: extremely disorganized and most of the class is done in group work. Very heavy day-to-day work with a lot of assignments, but you won't get them back for weeks after you've turned them in. I would highly recommend taking Physics 11/12 instead of 1/2.
the way vesal teaches physics 1 and physics 2 would be great to teach introductory physics TAs, but not students. quizzes are always: "heres a situation. A: what will happen, why? B: what might someone else say would happen? why? C: What might a third person say? why? D: Who's wrong? Why are they wrong?". immensely frustrating
Professor Dini cares about how his students learn. That, however, comes at the expense of learning physics, especially formulas and explaining complex topics. Class tends to be centered around correcting wrong answers rather than understanding the theory behind correct answers. Not recommended if one doesn't have prior knowledge of physics.
He does not teach you any equations of physics just the concepts but then on problem sets asks you to solve for things using equations that he doesn't really teach you how to use. Lectures are useless he repeats the same speech each class. I have not learned any physics taking this class if anything I am more confused. If I could would not do it.
Vesal is a nice guy, and means well. However, he is slow to respond to emails, relies heavily on student graders, and the class is extremely subjective. Assessments are often a single physics question with questions such as "why do you think that" "why do you think that is wrong" "which is the best answer" I didn't learn physics.
I get that he means well. However, I have taken upside-down classrooms before and his class is not well executed. He simply goes over wrong answers the entire class and doesn't explain why answers are correct. Having literally no prior experience with physics, this has been challenging. Tough grader. 2 many assignments, so u are always stressed
Takes some time to get used to his teaching style. Don't fight it. Once you go with it, learning becomes very interesting. He is a great professor and hammers down challenging concepts well. The downside is he takes forever to grade things. Overall not too hard to do well. Also, lots of group work. Group project/group quizzes so find good people.
Vesal has good intentions but the execution of the class was disorganized. Communication with any instructor/grader was really frustrating and too much focus on correcting wrong answers instead of understanding correct ones. I wasn't too stressed with assessments which ironically helped me learn more, i guess because there was no pressure.
For anyone that is taking this class as a premed for physics credit, this class is a horrible class to take. You are going to have to self-study for the physics portion of the MCAT because he does not teach applicable physics. He also goes over wrong answers for way too long which makes it a confusing and frustrating class.
Professor Dini is absolutely the worst professor at Tufts. If you are planning on taking his class (1 or 2) for pre-health student requirements, my recommendation is to take a Summer physics course or after grad at a different institution. It's easy to get an A, but you have to put in lots of work hours. If you are taking MCAT, don't take this!!!!!
Vesal spent more time talking through wrong answers than right ones, so this course quickly became incredibly confusing. The quiz process could take 2+ weeks due to all the useless components he tried to incorporate, and I spent more time writing about my thought process than doing physics. Thankfully, he's approachable outside of class.
If you actually want to learn physics, don't take this class. He uses a flipped classroom. While I've found other professors can do it effectively, his method is entirely unhelpful and I barely learned physics. The quizzes are poorly written and the problem sets are often unhelpful.
Pay attention to the prelectures to get the facts and equations and take good notes. Then give effort for the problem sets and lectures, and you can get an A for less effort than in most lab classes and learn in a fun way. It's possible to get an A without learning much, but if you put in effort it's very good prep for MCAT-style problem solving.
Professor Vesal actually cares that you will actually learn about the material. He makes it very easy to get a good grade so that the focus can be on learning. He has a collaborative lecture that encourages discussion which is very helpful in understanding the concepts of physics. Honestly one of the best professors at Tufts.
While Vesal means well, his ability to effectively teach physics is terrible. The mandatory textbook readings where you must make comments and respond to others even if you fully understand the material make for an excruciating waste of time. Lectures suck too, as you only go over 1 or 2 abstract questions, then leave unsure of the right answer.
STOP ASSIGNING SO MUCH BUSY WORK. I just want to learn physics - I dont need the 5000000 persuall assignments, the reflections, the self assessment, the triple assessment of the self assessment, the essay questions. JUST STOP PLEASE. My poor GPA
This is the most frustrating and unnecessary class I have ever taken. It is impossible to understand these abstract comments there is WAY too much emphasis on thought process, especially given the incredibly difficult quizzes that are 40% of our grade. AVOID IF YOU CAN
Vesal is the NICEST professor and will do everything he can to help you succeed. He's always open to meeting with students and talking through problems. Yes, the quizzes are hard, but you can do so poorly and still get a good grade in the class because everything else is basically completion or participation.
He's flexible and nice but the class is terrible. I literally do not know physics. There is so much work and none of it helps you learn. Flipped classroom is possible in sciences but not like this.
Actually one of the worst professors I have ever encountered. His "active learning" teaching style is deeply flawed and he is very insecure about the way he *makes* us learn. I actively unlearn physics by going to lecture. How he ever was employed here is beyond me -- I cannot stand the man. Please, dear god, do not take a class with him.
Please do not be fooled by the amount of 5s this man has gotten on rate my prof - knowing Vesal, he probably botted them
All yall are so mean- everyone who is writing a terrible review is just mad because you are not used to doing the work to do well. Vesal is so nice, and his expectations are very clear. He is extremely accessible, and he really cares about physics. If you put in sufficient effort, do all the psets, and go to class, youll get an A.
we focus too much on intuition than actual physics. my grades are good but I still have no idea what is going on. The self-reflections, group quiz reflections, perusall readings of 50+ pages every week... Nice guy tho, never went to office hours but probs wld help you with homework. still, all that work for not learning anything in physics...
I'm aware that he's trying to do something pedagogically different, but in practice that means barely teaching in lecture (we get through 1-2 problems, spending 30+ mins discussing wrong answers without explicitly saying they're wrong). Then the problem sets are much more complex, and the quizzes are even worse, compared to how little he teaches.
People love to hate on Vesal but if you do the work you'll be good. Half the course is an automatic 100% and the rest is based on the quizzes, although they are a bit difficult. He also takes student feedback into consideration, and changed major points of concerns over the semester to accommodate most people's wishes.
I struggled to select tags so I'm sticking w “hilarious” bcs it's HILARIOUS how this man this physics is this deep. His pedagogy is unfit for a class like this, physics isnt abt intuition & IS SUPPOSED to be centered around eqtns - not avoid them. Quizzes too difficult given how lecture is spent discussing wrong answers w/o telling us whats right.
Whatever you do, AVOID THIS CLASS! The “lectures” are videos made for high school students and he expects us to automatically know how to apply the concepts in class. His class is like a guessing game of what is right or wrong, except he doesn't even tell us what the right answer is. The more I attend lecture, the less I understand physics.
God awful. I'm sure Vesal is a nice guy but his class is absolutely dreadful. I haven't learned a single thing this semester and everyone I've spoken to feels the same and has to ChatGPT the homework. We spend the entirety of lecture discussing one or two questions and never get a clear answer. This class needs a serious change!
Quite literally one of the most confusing ways to teach physics possible. The entire class is burdened by needless reflections, process analysis, and other fluff that detracts from learning. Quizzes are difficult compared to what we do in class, and the busy work assigned every week takes forever to complete, with minimal understanding of concepts.
i have no words
take phy 11
AVOID - RUN take any class but this
if you really want to learn physics then this isn't the class for you. I don't think he really knows how to teach physics and sometimes his own questions confuse him. We spend class doing like 2 questions which sometimes we never find out what its answer is.
Many of the criticisms on this professor is a criticism of active learning. There's research behind why he's teaching the way he is, so if you trust the process, you'll be successful longterm. The students I know that struggled did so because they refused to adapt to a nontraditional lecture and grading style. Not very time consuming homework
Preaches about active learning, but fails to implement it effectively in any way. Lecture materials are unhelpful and class time is spent on explaining incorrect answers and glossing over the right answer. A lot of busy work that amounts to nothing substantial. Doesn't post in-class answers; responds to questions with questions. Ignores criticism.
This class is just a mess. So much busy work with almost zero payoff when it comes to actual learning. The teaching style is interesting but doesn't work for physics at all. Honestly I feel bad for the LAs, they're the ones who end up doing the teaching vesal skips. If you're serious about learning physics, this class will probably frustrate you.
disastrous professor, disastrous class. no access to any practice problems or practice exams before quizzes. problem set solutions are typed in paragraphs like essays so it's so hard to understand. this dude literally assigns ap physics videos on youtube because he's too lazy to teach. you never get the right answer to your questions. stay away!!
Vesal is very nice. However, I could not tell you the first thing about physics and maybe thats my bad, but we just go over the same 3 problems in different contexts in class the whole year and participation is mandatory. He is super into this revolutionized education method but it should maybe be applied somewhere else, not an intro physics class.
I'm very confused about the negative responses on this because Vesal is genuinely one of the nicest science professors at Tufts and he does actually make a point on active learning. As long as you do the work, actively participate in class and go to office hours to fully understand his concept of thinking and why it's important, you'll do great!
Physics 1 with Vesal was a surprisingly great experience. His grading scheme gives equal weight to your attendance/homework (which isn't graded on correctness), and I felt like I actually had a strong conceptual grasp on Physics rather than just memorizing formulas. Very reasoning and logic-heavy, but ended up for me.
Vesal is super supportive, but he struggles to teach content clearly. The class is flipped learning, and the textbook and the videos are not a great source of content. Questions are confusing to the point where they confuse him sometimes. However, I can appreciate the emphasis on understanding, (2/3 credit to explanations on quizes) and group work.
Vesal is a passionate professor and lovely human in general. We reviewed about 3-4 problems each class and it was centered on small group and then full-class discussion. Physics isn't my favorite subject, but Vesal emphasizes understanding rather than memorizing formulas. Genuinely one of the kindest professors.
A lot of kids were irritated by Vesal's teaching style and claimed it didn't work, and that's just not really true. He cares deeply about teaching physics and the process of learning, which I appreciate in and of itself. Yes, he can talk a lot and spend a little too much time on problems, but he's a good teacher and cares about his students.
Tests were difficult, but the more you embrace the teaching style the better you'll do. Also, tests not worth a lot.
Vesal is a funny guy and is entertaining during lecture, but I'm still 100% convinced he doesn't know physics. He runs a reverse classroom and expects students to understand all the math outside of class, and in class, proceeds to discuss only concepts. I feel like he would be 100x better in a high school class rather than college level.
Just very okay. The class was a little challenging, but I disliked the flipped classroom. Not a very good lecturer, but difficult to tell as most of the information was presented in videos. He also had a weird mix of ungraded homework, but with a heavily weighted final test.
Class is flipped classroom which I already dislike. He doesn't really teach anything in class and has the homework/grading system set up very weird. Not necessarily worried about my grade in the class, but I feel like I just haven't learned anything all year.
The lecture session is spent going over practice problems that are incredibly easy. There is a problem set every week that can be anywhere from just as easy to 5x harder, and each unit test is 10x harder. Often, he'll allow students to lead solving the lecture problems, often times are wrong, then doesn't give a good explanation for how to solve.
Uses online videos to teach content instead of lecturing, then uses class time to do practice problems. During the practice problems, he often gets confused and is unsure of his answer and sometimes asks class if he is correct. Does not provide useful online resources for tests, and answer keys for exam practice does not include explanation.
I'd rather lick clean every inch of track on the Medford branch of the T than ever take a course with vesal again. Infuriatingly unorganized lectures and exams were insanely difficult compared to practice. Thank god it's done tf
I genuinely believe he does not understand the majority of the content that he teaches. While he does seem to care a lot about his students, the reality is this whole interactive learning model focused on "articulating confusion" is unproductive and silly. Often left class more confused and just ended up actually learning content on youtube.
Hilariously horrible. AVOID VESAL LIKE THE PLAGUE. Preaches "learning from confusion," but how can we learn if HE HIMSELF IS CONFUSED?!!!???!?!? Exams very difficult for a class where u are not presented with any actual content from ur prof to learn.
I honestly have no words. Wtf was this class??? His philosophy is "articulate your confusion" which has proved to be deeply flawed because I learned literally nothing in this class and will somehow end up with an A... He's nice tho.
This class was incredibly disorganized. In lecture, he makes you explain your reasoning/confusion, but he doesn't correct wrong answers or help clear things up for you, mainly b/c he doesn't know physics/calculus that well. Also, problem sets always have unclear directions. That said, he is a very nice guy and cares for his students a lot.
Vesal is very passionate about Physics, and there are plenty of office hours, practice problems, and collaborative learning opportunities. However, you need to be proactive in learning; the flipped classroom structure will not ensure your success. Lab + Recitation + Lecture + weekly psets and videos was a lot but expected for a course like this.
Ignore the other reviews, Vesal was a gem this semester. This was his first time teaching 12 and he did a great job connecting topics and being accessible to students. Your grade is dependent on participation, 7 quizzes (4 solos, 3 group), and p-sets (completion). Pretty hard to fail this class, just write as much as possible on the quizzes.
he will assign a but load of homework the week of the midterm. Has absolutely no empathy and sympathy for his students. Lectures are completely irrelevant and expects us to learn from videos. he started out the first class stating that he hates his dog RED FLAG and deep down hates himself. Recitations are even worse and the test a total abomination
Don't take this class. Lectures consist of going over ridiculously easy problems to which Vesal doesn't provide meaningful answers or explanations. Hard tests follow. He is well-meaning, but doesn't seem to have a strong grasp of physics or calculus -- he's routinely stumped by student questions / comments. Classes are disorganized; labs are a joke
I like Vesal, and I know he is passionate about physics and learning. The way this class is taught is pedagogically unusual, and tbh it doesn't work. The pre-class videos we have to learn from are really bad, and there is a severe lack of synchronicity between class, homework, and test material. Also, an astounding lack of test review resources.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
90%
Textbook Required
0%
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PHYS01
5.0
(1)PSY2
5.0
(1)PHYSICS1
4.5
(2)PHYS001
4.0
(1)PHY2
4.0
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4.0
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4.0
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3.7
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3.6
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3.6