PHYS 1429

This lab is way too extensive for an introductory physics class. While it isn't difficult necessarily to achieve an A in this class, it is time intensive. There is a discontinuity between the graders and the lab TAs in what they expect for you to include in your lab report; the lab TAs don't tell you everything that the grader's will take points off if you don't include. So, Iin addition to the lab you will want to go to grader's office hours on Fridays and talk to them about their expectations for each part of the report. There is a rubric present, but the graders are looking for the most specific things, and they will take points off if they are not present even though no one told you to include it during your lab.Also, some of the pre labs are convoluted, so I highly recommend you go to TA office hours and get help because they count towards your grade, and you'll need all of the points you can get. A major factor for your enjoyment in this class will be your group, which is chosen at random. Because another member in my group and myself had much stronger analytical skills, we had to carry the report while our other members did significantly less work. But hey, chances are you don't have the option other than to take this class, so just be prepared to buckle down.

This class is not fun at all to say the least. If you get a good group, it is not as bad because you can divide up the work. I would recommend going to office hours and getting help because they do grade hard. There are 10 or so lab reports where you have one every week. They start the year off giving you feedback on your lab report so that you know where to improve and so that you don’t get penalized. I say if you have to take this class take it but if you don’t have to take it, don’t take it for fun. The ta’s also teach the whole class and not the teacher.

Terrifying class. You actually learn a ton out of how labs work, error propagation, and everything else, but the way that it is taught is highly dependent on the Lab TAs you get. My lab TAs weren't bad, and I think that if you take this class, in order to do well, you need to ask TAs all the questions you can.

Go to office hours (if they want to help you) for report-writing. The grading TAs seem to be trained to grade as sadistically as possible, and if you're like most, you will need guidance from TAs in office hours to write a report that they will like.

Overall, if you don't particularly enjoy physics experiments, just take the two labs at community college and transfer them here. It's a pain in the ass for 1 credit.

professor never really had a presence in my time during this lab. mainly the TAs, and the one time i was around him during office hours it seemed as if he had an attitude, but otherwise you don't really interact with the professor. TAs are there to guide you during the lab session so solidify everything during lab time i would say (like equations, hypothesis, etc.). the grading is kind of bs. I've gone to office hours to get help on the hypothesis and then my graded version was told that it was wrong so some TAs may be better than others.

They reformatted this class which makes it pretty easy: web assign post labs and prelabs, work with your group in class and use capstone to submit assignments. It is pretty straight-forward and I can say labs are most likely graded on completion. You only see the TAs, no presence of the professor. boring but easy to get out of the way.

People make this class sound very scary, but to be honest if you go to office hours and talk with the TAs about your reports you have nothing to worry about. Once you understand the structure of the lab reports, they become much easier to write and you sort of understand how to do them well without losing too many points. The prelabs are usually not bad and can usually be done in less than an hour, especially if you go to office hours. The postlabs in this class can be pretty time-consuming (it gets much better in physics 2 workshop) just because you're usually expected to take so much data during the lab itself that it's hard to write much of the lab report during class. My personal recommendation is to get familiar with all aspects of what you're supposed to do (predictions, error prop, Capstone, writing), just in case you need it, but to have the same person work on the same tasks every week for efficiency (which also makes it much easier to get similar grades from week to week on the lab reports). #tCFS24

Don't let any of the reviews on here before Spring 2024 scare you. I just finished taking this class (spring 2024), and they significantly restructured the course this semester for the better. Key: no lab reports! The course basically consisted of an hour and 50 minutes each week in lab, plus a pre-lab and a post-lab that you had to complete on WebAssign (mostly straightforward math or conceptual problems, and you get multiple tries per question). I'd say I spend about 2-ish hours working on these assignments (maybe more) outside of class, which is annoying for a course that is only one-credit, but definitely not hard and I'd say it is pretty easy to get an A. The TAs I interacted with in lab and office hours (definitely go if you get stuck on any assignment) were super helpful and wanted you to succeed. The labs themselves were fairly straightfoward, not the most interesting things in the world but the TAs walked our group through them anytime we got stuck. Overall, I can't say I'd recommend taking this course if it's not required for you, but it shouldn't be painful.

This course is a LOT easier than what the reviewers before Spring 2024 had to go through: there are no more lab reports and out of class work basically just consists of a prelab/skill work and a postlab, both in WebAssign. The lab itself isn't fun, though if you have good group members you'll be fine (we walked out early most times). Unlike the intro chem lab, there is no clear set of procedures though you will get the help you need (from the TAs who teach your section) to figure out what to do, but you need to derive the formulas needed to figure out the postlab during lab. The prelabs are usually easy, testing on physics skills and basic math skills. Some of the postlab questions were annoying, but you can work on them with your group and there are office hours.

Tip: although you don't turn in the lab manual, make sure to read it and write down any relevant data (otherwise doing your postlab will be difficult).

Overall, this course isn't great, but it's not too bad, if you have a good group. #tCFS24

No additional help is provided from the professor. The TAs do everything for the class. The assignments aren't very hard but sometimes Webassign is tricky. Professor Bychkov is resilient to giving any help, don't expect relief for assignments or due dates. Classes take forever because the TAs talk and talk and talk. Definitely on par with the UVA physics department...

This is one of those courses that is run entirely by the TAs. Pretty much what you'd expect from a 1 credit lab. You meet once a week, complete the lab, and do one postlab and a prelab weekly. The TAs were super nice and helpful! I think most of them relate to the students really well. The lab part itself is fun. They use this software called PASCO, which was a little annoying to learn, but not anything crazy once you get the hang of it. I would recommend befriending your groupmates. Being able to help each other in this course is a good idea.
#tCFS25