Reviews for ASTR340

Information Review
Alberto Bolatto
ASTR340

Anonymous
03/07/2023
Dude man, It's currently the middle of spring semester and I have learned so little from this class. This guy CAN NOT explain anything well. Youtube and reddit has been saving me. We have clicker questions, and 50% of students would often get it wrong. Instead of going back and explaining it again, he just goes forward and act like everything is fine and dandy. His homework takes forever to do as well. His 2 exam make up almost majority of your grade and its no notes, no resources what so ever. There is so much physics and math involved. If I were you, please stay away from this guy and class.
Alberto Bolatto
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/05/2023
nice guy but the class is challenging his explanations sometimes were confusing but the class is manageable if you're interested enough
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/08/2021
If I could give him 6 stars I would. I've had my fair share of good professors and Diemer is BY FAR the best prof I've had at UMD. At the end of the last lecture of the semester the entire class clapped for him, like a full round of applause because he made the semester so fun, and he deserved every bit of it. Diemer would crack jokes, talk about current astro events, and made the course fun all around which made it enjoyable to go to each lecture, I wanted to go each day. He also would answer any questions students had mid lecture and if he didn't know the answer he'd let you know and would look it up after lecture so that next class he could answer it correctly for you. Each lecture he was so well prepared, it was like he knew his lecture like the back of his hand. Overall just an awesome experience. If you're an architecture major I would still recommend taking ASTR340 even though it has NOTHING to do with anything you'll do in life, purely because you can take Diemer. Quite simply, he's the GOAT.
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/09/2021
Class can be a bit difficult but he curves it. Now, even though the class was hard when I took it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my favorite ASTR courses. I got to learn a lot and it was really easy to approach him with any questions or doubts that I had.
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/25/2021
The class was difficult, but Diemer tried his best to make the material work for us. Make sure you study well and you'll be fine on his exams. I didn't study enough for the final and it brought my grade down significantly.
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/12/2021
Good and kind professor. The only downside is the homeworks and exams which were pretty difficult.
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/05/2021
Super nice professor who did a really good job of transitioning to online learning. Don’t expect an easy A, but easily the most interesting astronomy course I’ve taken so far and Diemer does a good job of explaining and motivating information
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/01/2020
Super nice guy. Homework and exams are long and hard, but the professor is accommodating and tries to make the material work for us. I recommend taking him.
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/13/2020
Long long homeworks and extremely vague, but the grading is lenient so it makes up for it. Exams are hard too. Not an easy A, and quite a bit of workload.
Benedikt Diemer
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/12/2020
Lectures are kind of boring, homework is long, and exams are difficult. But the professor is pretty chill and grades leniently, so you can expect to have a decent grade.
Alberto Bolatto
ASTR340

Anonymous
12/12/2015
This is not an easy class, but I enjoyed the lectures very much. He made so many connections it blew my mind. If you are looking for a class that makes you think about big things this is it. But it is not an easy A.
Alberto Bolatto
ASTR340

Anonymous
10/13/2011
He is a great teacher, he made a lot of connections. He makes you work for your grade, and he likes to challenge the students. But, hey, that's why I am taking university courses!
Massimo Ricotti
ASTR340

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/15/2011
Pros: Knows what he's talking about, gives out copies of the lecture, very friendly and always willing to answer questions. Curve was set first day of class (100-85 A, 84-70 B, ...) and homework was 40% of the final grade. Cons: If you aren't super interested in some of the topics of the course, then some lectures can be pretty boring. The math involved in the homework gave some people problems, but overall it really was not that difficult if you could use the given equations and can convert units (high school level stuff). Overall: While I did enjoy the course a lot, it is "designed primarily for non-science majors" and therefore didn't go as in depth with physics as I personally would have liked. Regardless, I learned a lot and recommend both the course and the professor.
Alberto Bolatto
ASTR340

Anonymous
04/29/2010
He is a very friendly teacher, but I just felt like the material was a little detailed for a non-science major course.
Andrew Harris
ASTR340

Expecting an A
blackshellbowser
10/21/2009
He tries to make the lectures interesting and it worked 99% of the time. I was never tempted to skip class. He is pretty generous with grades (85% and higher is an A) and for our class, he gave us extra credit for turning in homework on time. You get a handful of homeworks, a midterm and a final. IIRC he gave us a helpful sample exam for the midterm. It was close to the actual midterm. Overall I enjoyed the class and glad I took it!
Andrew Harris
ASTR340

Expecting a B
anthonyhopkins
04/22/2009
Professor Harris is an excellent teacher. He really makes class interesting and is a great lecturer. He is hilarious in his own nerdy way. Homework counts for a big percent of your grade and he has been giving extra credit for handing it in on time. There is only one midterm, so it is pretty comprehensive. The Final exam is cumulative and I expect it to cover a lot of material and be pretty difficult. This is a pretty hard class and reading the text beforehand is definitely recommended. Even though this class is hard, I enjoyed it a lot, mostly because Andy Harris was a fantastic professor.