ECE 2200

This class is definitely the best alternative to Physics II. I've heard horror stories in that class, so if you have the opportunity to take this class over Physics II, even if you have credit for lab, definitely take this class instead. Professor Williams is so caring about his class and caring about the topics that he teaches, it's a joy to go to lecture because you never know what he's going to talk about. Definitely my favorite course so far at UVA, and I'm not even a physics guy.

ECE 2200 is an easy alternative to Physics II. Keith Williams does his absolute best to ensure that you have multiple opportunities to improve your grades, including homework corrections and vetoing one question on each exam. The actual content wasn’t terribly difficult, but sometimes the lectures focused a lot on history and less on working through the problems. However, the textbook is a really good resource to walk through practice problems independently. Another really great part about the class is the flexibility in scheduling labs, as there is no weekly lab section like in Physics I and Physics II. You can schedule a 30 minute lab session any time during the 1.5-2 week period per lab. Overall, the course can be a little monotonous at times, but it is pretty easy and enjoyable. Professor Swami, who lectured alongside Professor Williams, was also very well-versed in the content, but his lecture style was a bit harder to comprehend.

#tCFF24

I love Keith Williams so much. This course is a fantastic course, and I fully recommend taking this course. I always have anxiety taking physics tests, but Keith makes sure to teach the material pretty well, and there are not too many numbers and math crunching, instead the tests are mostly conceptual. Keith is extremely kind and gives us test figures before giving the exams, and most of the exams are even take home, which is amazing because it means I can take it after all my other exams in a week. Additionally, the homework basically prepares you for the exams that are given in the class. The best part about this class is the trivia that Keith provides during class, and he always is happy to answer questions and teach a different way of understanding something if you do not understand the material that he is teaching. I love this class, and it is taught in a way that is very digestible and interactive. I hope that you take this class and learn about physics 2, because I really enjoyed the class.

Great prof who has a lot of fun teaching the class. This course is not meant to be challenging, just meant to teach you the material. Was a great way to fulfill my physics 2 credit. Labs are around 30 minutes and happen about every two weeks-ish. Homeworks weren't bad and the TA's are helpful in OH.

I took this course instead of the normal Physics II requirement for the engineering school. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone who was interested in maybe taking it. I had Professor Williams and you can tell that he puts a lot of consideration into this course for the students. The format of the exams tend to test for fundamental knowledge surrounding the equations you use rather than your ability to perform large amounts of calculus and arithmetic while plugging in a bunch of numbers. This ends up making them quite easy to review for, as the homeworks tend to be very similar and sometimes even slightly more difficult than the exams themselves. Lectures also tend to have quite a bit of historical context for the concepts that end up being studied, so lectures aren't extremely informationally dense to the point of making your mind numb and your note taking hands sore by the end of the 50 minutes.

Folks, gather 'round and let me tell you about the man, the myth, the legend - Professor Keith Williams. This guy doesn't just teach Applied Physics; he's basically the Thor of E&M, wielding Maxwell's equations like Mjolnir!

Five weeks in, and I'm convinced Williams has some sort of quantum entanglement with the laws of physics. He doesn't just know this stuff; he lives it, breathes it, and probably eats cereal with it for breakfast.

Pros:
1. Williams' enthusiasm is so contagious, the CDC should classify it as a pandemic.
2. You'll start seeing physics everywhere. That lightning storm? Nature's own Van de Graaff generator!
3. His demonstrations are like magic shows, but instead of pulling rabbits out of hats, he's pulling electrons out of thin air.
4. You'll develop a Pavlovian response to the word "flux" - equal parts excitement and terror.

Cons:
1. You might start making terrible physics puns. Your social life may experience significant resistance.

Let me tell you, this isn't your grandma's physics class (unless your grandma is Marie Curie). Williams doesn't just break down barriers between students and professors; he breaks them down at the atomic level!

By the end of this course, you'll either be ready to revolutionize modern physics or start a very successful YouTube channel debunking pseudoscience with finger guns and dad jokes.

Sooooooooooo, in conclusion, if you don't take ECE 2200 with Keith Williams, you're missing out on the chance to have your mind blown at approximately the speed of light. It's not just a class; it's a life-altering experience that'll have you seeing the world through electromagnetic-tinted glasses.

In conclusion, if you don't take ECE 2200 with Keith Williams, you're missing out on the chance to have your mind blown at approximately the speed of light. It's not just a class; it's a life-altering experience that'll have you seeing the world through electromagnetic-tinted glasses.

Keith is an amazing lecturer. I've never been more interested in a gen ed's course material before. The grading is very forgiving, and Keith focuses more on concepts and symbolic derivations than numerical calculations, which is very refreshing.

I highly recommend taking this course.

#tCFF23

very chill alternative to phys 2 . prof keith is an awesome guy and hes super funny too . i strongly dislike physics but prof keith made the material interesting and the assignments super doable . very highly recommend this #tCFF23

This class was very disorganized and at points so easy that I did not learn anything. Lectures went on about several applications for very long but it was hard to understand how that worked. One of the tests was take home and the lowest score question (out of 5) on each question was dropped, making the tests very easy. Homeworks can be redone for a full score but the grading is very behind. I like physics and was expecting a more fun class, but I found this boring, but extremely easy.

Great Course, Keith makes the content super easy to digest and shows applications of material covered in class. The class is advertised as "No Lab Required" but there is a lab component of your grade which consists of performing labs under the supervision of a TA on your own time. It's very tricky to go about completing these labs as TA's are quite unhelpful for the most part and cancel OH without warning. Another thing to take into account is that this course doesn't require Calc III but the first assignment and the class as a whole is very Calc III heavy and you are expected to come into class already knowing this content. Keith is very willing to work around your math skills and help you succeed in the class but his lack of Office Hours stops anyone from getting one on one help. The other option is to go to TA OH but in my experience these were extremely unhelpful because all the TA's claimed to not know Calculus and refused to help me.

TLDR: Great Course for those trying to complete their Physics II requirement, you're almost guaranteed an A in the course, the only issue is mainly the TAs and their unwillingness to help

This class was extremely relaxed and I would highly recommend it for anyone who need to fulfill the physics 2+lab requirement. It was jointly taught by Keith Williams and Avik Ghosh, both of whom are super chill and are very accommodating. They would usually take turns on lecturing about the same topic. The lectures aren't too interesting, but they often talk about interesting applications of topics and their history, which kept it interesting enough. Homework is very light and can be resubmitted for full credit, and there are only four labs which take less than an hour each and which are more like hands-on demos rather than the mind-numbing reports we had to write for physics 1 lab. Finally, tests consist of five multi-part questions, and the lowest of your five questions is dropped. One of the tests and even the final are take-home. Overall, an easy and stress-free way to knock out an otherwise grueling e-school requirement. Thank god this class exists.
#tCFS24

First, applied physics is a much easier and preferable alternative for e-school students instead of taking physics 2 and lab. Second, Keith is a very accommodating instructor, and will help meet students’ needs. The lectures aren’t very engaging or streamlined content wise but the exams are all pretty easily doable with a strong base in calculus and some light studying, also one exam was take home, and the final is take home, the final is just deriving a lot of the equations used in the class. Also, homework is 45% of the class, and you’re able to revise every one after receiving your grade back so a 100 for homework is likely. Keith does most of the lectures but he also seems to be more of an experimentalist while Avik is more the theorist as they co-teach this class. There’s also only 4 labs and they only take about an hour max a piece, and are basically participation grades. Finally, overall this is a good class for fulfilling the physics 2 and lab credits without having to do to much work with material you’ll likely never use again.

very kind professor. lectures may deviate into extra unnecessary topics so it might be hard to discern what you need to know vs what you don't but otherwise the class is incredibly easy. homework was easy, exams were easy and he was very lenient. lab you can go in for 15 minutes and complete it and as long as you put in effort you'll get 100%.

I took his course in Fall 2023 and it was I enjoyed it. Professor Williams is a great lecturer although we do sometimes (rarely) get into things other than physics lmao. We had a lot of take home tests and the final was also take home. He also dropped the lowest test which was very kind of him. There were 3 labs (supposed to have 4 but there was no time) and they were fairly simple with the help of the TAs. I would highly recommend this course for anyone trying to get their physics 2 requirement done. I was able to get a high A with very little effort but that was because Prof Williams made learning the material simple.