PHYS 2010

Look no further because I can tell you exactly what you need to know.

For those just looking for stats:
Final Distribution:
| A+ (1%) | A (13%) | A- (3%) | B+ (4%) | B (32%) | B- (31%) | C+ (12%) | C(2%) | C- (1%) | D+ and below (1%) |

Exam Averages:
Midterm 1: 55.6/80 69.5%
Midterm 2: 56.1/80 70.125%
Final Exam: 109.3/160 68.3125%

For those with literally any other option:
If you are trying to go to grad school, just don't take this. If you have to take 2010 take it with literally anybody other than Yoshida. You can think you're better and you can say everyone is exaggerating at how bad he is but I did the same and I learned the hard way. I can almost guarantee you that you will not walk out of this class with better than a B+, regardless of what kind of student you are. If you have any other option, stop reading here and just don't take it.

For those that have no other option other than to take this with Yoshida:
First off I'm sorry. This class is not going to be fun at all. I know dozens of students who received their first B in this class despite an A in classes like Organic Chem and Cell Bio. While it is not going to be fun, there is useful info that can help you early on in this class. If you aren't familiar with Yoshida's test/quiz format, someone already wrote about it in another review that you can read. The way to get a decent grade in this class is to be more willing to admit that you don't know what you're talking about than the other kids in this class. I know this sounds stupid especially for a bunch of us who are used to knowing what we are talking about. But I promise you, if you can't prove that an answer choice is incorrect beyond a reasonable doubt, then don't eliminate it. Here is an example of why this works:

Question: How many apples does Timmy have?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
e) 5
f) None of the above

Let's say that you are confident that Timmy has at least 5 apples. In other classes where we have a multiple choice question, we would have to guess between answer choice (e) and answer choice (f). In other classes based on this guess we would either get all of the points for this question or none of the points for this question. Intuition tells you to pick one. But this isn't Yoshida logic (logic is probably the wrong word because it implies that there is some type of common sense but you get the point). In Yoshida's class, you should always leave both (e) and (f) in this scenario because you are guaranteed 9/10 points (1 for each wrong answer eliminated and 5 for leaving the correct answer) for this question 100% of the time. The reason that this class punishes intelligent, high-standard individuals is that they look at that 9/10 as a 90% and say "I'm better than a 90%" and then guess one or the other answers and often end up with a 4/10 (1 for each of the 4 wrong answers eliminated). This is why people with lower confidence and standards are advantaged in this class while those with higher confidence and standards. Looking back, I wish I had never eliminated a "none of the above" or "all of the above" option.

On the first day when Yoshida explains his test/quiz style he is going to give a thesis on how its "simple elimination" and it "is not a gamble like students say it is." While what he says isn't false, its incredibly different from the way that we have all taken assessments and he fails to acknowledge that learning physics in an of itself is sufficiently difficult without having to learn a new testing style (especially in a summer session).

This all sounds terrible and I want to be clear that I am not the one to normally write a charged review like this. I just wish that I had heard all of this before I decided to take the class. I had heard why physics is so bad at UVA and Yoshida is the epitome. He is so overindulged in his arrogance and passion for higher level physics that he shows little interest in the quality of the learning experience in this course and does the bare minimum to get it done.

TLDR: Summer 2020 stats posted above, if you have any other option don't take this with Yoshida.

I took this class during the summer of 2020 (online due to COVID-19). I must say that (as a rising second-year) this is by far the WORST COLLEGE CLASS THAT I HAVE EVER TAKEN. We had to watch lecture videos that were of very poor quality. On top of that, the lectures did not go heavily in-depth into the material, but he tested us on material that was way harder than what was covered in the lecture. The exam questions combined and muddled many concepts together, and he told us to "use our intuition". And how are we supposed to do that????!!?!?! This is the grading breakdown: 10% Homework, 10% Daily Quizzes (fifteen total), 20% for each midterm, 40% for the final exam. The quizzes and exams are multiple-choice questions (each question out of 10: 6 choices, you get one point for choosing the correct answer and 1 point for each question that you eliminate, so you can put more than one answer choice). For example, let's say that A is the correct answer choice; if you put ABF as your answer, you will get 8/10 points: 5 points for choosing A and 3 points for eliminating C, D, and E. You end up losing points many points two ways: you are too confident and put only one choice down and it's wrong (you only get 4/10 points for correctly eliminating four of the answer choice) or you completely misunderstand the question and place more than one answer and they are all wrong. For instance, the correct answer is E, but you put ABD, you only get 2/10 points for correctly eliminating C and F. Worst case scenario: the correct answer is F and you put ABCDE, that's 0/10 points. In short, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I am a Premed and I understand that Premeds try to knock this class out of the way during the summer, as Physics classes are just awful, but I STRONGLY RECOMMEND not taking this class with Atsushi Yoshida, especially if we still have to have classes online next summer. Yoshida only teaches this class during the summer. I'm so glad that after getting a B in this class, I immediately dropped PHYS 2020 and took RELG1040 instead (which I would highly recommend). Yoshida is also very strict on submitting things on time to the second, with a one-point penalty for every minute that you are late. The daily quizzes consist of two questions that we have 15 minutes to do. The homework problem sets are also an absolute nightmare. During office hours, he takes 45 minutes to explain just one question. In short, this class is way too hard for an introductory class. Premeds, DO NOT take this class nor PHYS2020 during the summer with Yoshida.