PHYS 2040

This course is better than the first semester of lab, but it is still an insane amount of work for 1 credit. The class is entirely run by TAs, many of whom speak English as their second language, so you have to be extra attentive and ask for clarification as necessary. Your experience in this course will be determined by the random group you are assigned. You will have to fill out a PDF worksheet (10-15 questions, about 1-2 paragraphs each) every other week, and you have to write the same 1-page report every week that is not a PDF week. The grade cutoffs were not revealed until the very end of the course, despite the syllabus saying they would be determined after the first few labs; as the other reviews say, Bychkov just decides what he wants them to be at the very end, but it is not super difficult to get an A if you put as much time into this course as you would a 3-credit one. You need to attend office hours often to succeed. Some of the topics are clearly designed around the calculus-based course, and the professor clearly does not care whether you are taking the algebra-based or calculus-based series as he has the EXACT same course under both course codes and is working to merge them. If you are taking the algebra-based lecture, you have no choice but to attend office hours or watch videos online to learn the material to complete the assignments/pre-labs. There are many opportunities to provide feedback, but I am unsure whether they are ever taken seriously because I have never heard of anyone enjoying this course or taking it for pure interest. Communicate well with your team and make the contract at the very beginning of the semester to set expectations. Start the assignments early to avoid unnecessary stress as you are likely to run into things you have never heard of and will need to attend office hours to get that sorted out. Go to the graders often and get points back. Some are unnecessarily picky and will take off points for your wording or because you did not measure every single measuring device you used in lab, even if its not in the rubric. #tCFS24

Obviously, this course is a horrific amount of writing and work for a one credit class. But my course experience was not ruined by the graders, TAs, or professors, but rather by my groupmates. I think there was a breakdown in communication somewhere along the way, because it would always somehow be me writing the whole lab report every week and submitting it. Keep in mind that I took this class along with orgo lab so I would be juggling an orgo lab report and physics lab report... This class really taught me that your classmates can and will have less brain cells than you expect them to have. I at least applaud one of my groupmates for always having the Capstone graphs and analyses ready to upload. But my other groupmates... They were always busy, would never go to office hours, and if they did pop into the shared document where we wrote our report they would edit maybe one word or number and then not do anything, or refuse to make changes that I suggested they make. Sometimes they would add calculations and it would be just wrong and I would have to recalculate everything. I never ended up kicking them out of my group because they would still collect data during the in-class period, but do keep in mind it's the lab reports and question packets that actually count for your grade. If you're carrying your group, or if your group has someone who can and will carry, your grades will be good. My section average was around 96, and the highest score in our section was literally over 100 because Maksim would give bonus points for submitting peer evaluations and doing extra problems for the lab reports.
Overall, I would go to about 3 office hours every week, and one of them was the graders' office hours. That's really all you need. And the rest of the hours are spent nitpicking yourself to death over report writing.
The graders are overall very understanding (minus the language barrier) and will give points back as long as you have a reason. As for Maksim, he definitely shows up every once in a while and is also super approachable. His new office is right down the hall from the newly renovated lab rooms, right next to the entrance door, and right below the room for office hours. Also, his door is almost always open and he'll be at his standing desk. You can walk by and say hi, or walk in and he'll answer any questions you have.

It is genuinely mystifying to me that after so many years of receiving complaints about the intro physics labs the department STILL refuses to change anything about how they are run. Highlights:
1. Bychkov literally never shows up to class. He is totally inaccessible.
2. Your class will be run by TAs who usually know what they're doing, and are mostly nice. But this is outweighed by the fact that
3. Everything is graded by the most sadistic TAs the department could hire that shave down your grade faster than you can say "circuit." They take off points for asinine reasons and usually just seem like they're there to worsen your grade arbitrarily. They never provide any useful feedback and you have to go to office hours to get them to give you a grade you actually deserve. Furthermore
4. This class is a completely obscene amount of work for 1 credit. You will break your back trying to get an A which is nigh on impossible because ON TOP OF ALL THIS THE CLASS IS CURVED SO THAT THE CUTOFF FOR AN A IS WHATEVER BYCHKOV WANTS IT TO BE. This is usually higher than a traditional 92.5 or 93. Last semester in 2030 it was a 94; I've heard this class has gotten as high as a 96.
In summary: total dereliction of duty and an abdication on the part of the instructor and the department. Hard to tell if the Physics department is staggeringly incompetent at teaching intro classes or just has a frothing hate for anyone who doesn't go into the major. Maybe both! It is a sadistic attempt to chase ANYONE with any interest away from the field and kill anyone's interest in physics forever. Avoid at all possible costs. #tCFS24