MSE 2090

The course started off with extremely difficult/intimidating homework assignments, but they rapidly changed to a very manageable load. My first homework took me the entirety of one day (no kidding like 8 hours), but the more work I put in at the beginning of the course, the easier the course got with time. By the end of the course when my other classes were bogging me down, MSE 2090 took little to no time out of my schedule. Very rewarding class with an excellent professor that gives great lectures. Groves will often show the real world applications of what you're learning and make the material relatable.

Professor Groves teaches a different style of class. On all tests and homework you are allowed to use the Internet, your notes, even the textbook. Some of the material can be challenging but any misunderstandings can be cleared up at office hours, which are very helpful. The homework is frustrating sometimes, but for the most part it is straight forward. Homework and class participation are heavily weighted (15%) each, so getting a decent grade is not extremely difficult. The tests can be hard but you have access to the Internet so time is the biggest issue. If you want to take materials science definitely start out with Groves, he really cares about how well you do in the class.

This was a pretty good course. James Groves is a good teacher, but the course was very hard. He gives open book tests which is nice but you still must study very hard for the tests or you are not gonna make it. Kelly is a very good teacher, one of the best I have seen, so if the choice is there take him into account too. Groves is really nice and helpful, but dont take it looking for an easy A.

Took this class my first year first semester with Groves. First, let me talk about the class. You learn about a variety of materials and their behaviors, pretty much. That's the really simple version of the course- trust me, it's much more complicated than that. Unless you're into that stuff coming into the class, the material that the professor covers will likely be not that engaging most of the time. My advice would be to just read the chapter that the professor will be discussing in lecture before you go to class and just use class time to take some notes and clear up questions you had on the reading. Do that and study your book/notes regularly and you'll be fine. But that kinda applies for any class, I guess. Next, the professor. Groves is a fantastic professor. Easily the best professor I had my first semester. He's very friendly and approachable, and is very ready to help at office hours. His lectures, while not too exciting (due to the course content) do what they need to do, so I can't complain. He used Learning Catalytics when I took the class and usually he'd sort of talk through the questions each day and guide us toward an eventual answer. So yeah, Groves is great. His tests are pretty difficult, but they're fair. If you work a lot of practice problems and really solidify yourself on the concepts (much easier said than done), you can make things work. Another thing about the tests. You only get 1 class period and the tests take a very long time to finish due to the intricacies of the "short answer" (more like long answer) questions. On top of that, he does a "many choice" multiple choice section which means that more than one answer per question could be correct, or even just one answer for a question. On the bright side, his tests are open resources. Meaning open textbook, open internet, etc. This does not make the tests easier, however. You still need to study a lot. I learned that the hard way. All in all, I'd say that if you're willing to put in a lot of hours and want a great professor, take this class with Groves.

Fairly straightforward class, you have to read and do a few problems before each lecture. Groves doesn't really offer much in his lectures so you will do most of the learning outside of class. The tests aren't too bad but the MC is hard.

Not the most fun class, but not too difficult and useful. The lectures are often not formatted as traditional lectures, but use questions presented in learningcatalytics as a jumping off point to discuss a few specific points. Some of the other reviews complained about the class being taken online, but this class is now offered in person and I had a fairly good experience with this class.

Overall, Prof. Groves is a really good guy, but when I took the class, it was taught online once per week. This just made it even harder to pay attention to an already boring subject. I guess if you find the information interesting the HW won't be that bad, but it can take a long time to finish the weekly problem sets. Also, the tests are really hard, so be sure to put in a lot of studying.

Class was pretty hard and not that much fun, but it fulfills a requirement and is apparently easier and more fun than the alternatives.

Such an impossible class for tests and final. Homework took way too long. Material may be interesting if you like this kind of stuff and Groves is a nice guy, but in my opinion grades wayyyy too hard. MC on tests is pretty impossible, he finds the most random little details to test you on even if they aren't important concepts. I never thought an open everything final would be one of the hardest tests I've taken

I took this class my first semester first year ONLINE with Groves. I would not recommend this class to any first years who don't know how to teach yourself like me. The online lecture is soo boring, and you always end up doing something else bc it's not interesting at all. Always do the readings because you don't learn enough from the lectures to do the hw. Hw takes a lot of time! Don't wait till the last minute. Go to the TA and do the readings and use the discussion board! Tests are hard,M/C questions always have more than 1 correct answers and tend to be tricky. Groves is a really nice guy though.

This was one of the worst class I've ever had at UVA. It has dissuaded me from ever taking another MSE class ever again. The subject is already dry and boring, but Groves just exponentiates it with his lectures. Tests were too long as well.

Really nice guy, lectures can be a little dry but informative

I had Prof. Groves and I wish I had taken MSE with Kelly. Everyone I know who was in Kelly's class had higher averages on the tests and HW's simply bc he is a better teacher. Thank God for Steve Policastro, the TA, get to know him. He is a really nice guy and will help you at any time, not just his office hours.

Fantastic Lectures with easy to understand slides giving a good background in Materials Science.