ASTR380 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Douglas Hamilton ASTR380 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/23/2025	I had him for ASTR 100 and 380, I am a 3rd year stem major which might make my review a little biased, so just know that going in, easy post lecture quizzes with 2 attempts 5 lowest gets dropped, 2 midterms and a cumulative final, IMO not that hard if you actually pay attention in class. the only people i saw struggling were the ones on their phones/ computers the whole time. some of his exam questions were a bit hard for non stem majors/ new students in stem. math wise the class is very light, simple algebra/exponents/simple base 10 logarithms is all you need to know for this class. He posts slides and allows 1 cheat sheet front and back for each midterm and 3 FOR THE FINAL (although the cheat sheets were only in the 380 class, the ASTR 100 class didn't get cheat sheets). In both classes he has lots of examples and try's to put everything in layman terms so everyone can understand. every class he has questions that you answer via his website for the class (basically free clicker) and your participation gets you bonus points for the exam, YOU DONT EVEN NEED TO GET IT RIGHT! me try's to interact/engage with his classes even when the majority of the time they don't respond in kind. Every day after class he stays back to answer question for those that really care. Honestly he is not as bad as some of these comments make him out to be. all in all fun class, if you are a stem major you will do fine, if you aren't stem you might have a bit harder of a time but as long as you put in the effort you will be fine.
Douglas Hamilton ASTR380 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/19/2025	I'll start with the good- Prof Hamilton is funny and really likes to teach- you can feel his enthusiasm in the room, even if at times the students are dead silent. He also explains complicated topics well and simplifies them to be easily understandable. The problems come with his tests and course structure. 380/Astrobiology is a mess. He said to get the textbook but I couldn't find the version and never read it, not that it would have been much help anyway. But the material goes all over and often to seemingly irrelevant stuff in chemistry and physics that he seems to add just to have more material. His lectures are very info-dumping. Then on the test he asks for the smallest bits of info he's mentioned and I'm personally more of a "big picture" person. He does curve though (not that I followed his explanation for it) so don't worry too much about the grade (but the grade distribution was very low). Also his grading system didn't make any sense to me, so I don't know what my grade will be until I see it, but he does give out extra credit points in class via clicker questions. My bigger problem was that 380 says it's designed for "non-science majors" like myself so I thought it'd be a cool elective. No- he said ASTR100 is a prereq but that info didn't make it to Testudo, so maybe 2/3 of the class actually is in ASTR major or taken other courses. I really think the department ought to enforce that prereq (idk if Hamilton has a say in that) to weed out people who won't do well like me. I was able to understand the material because it was really oversimplified and avoided math, even though I can do some, but I don't believe that should be the case for an upper-level ASTR course. So part of my problem was Hamilton and part of it was the class structure. TL;DR- don't take this unless you're an ASTR major/minor/already know Hamilton and are fine with his style.
Eliza Kempton ASTR380 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/21/2023	I am an aerospace engineering major taking this course as part of my minor so my view might be a bit biased but people thought this class was hard but I thought it was very easy. Homeworks were very short written responses or just simple calculations. Exams were very easy as long as you reviewed her slides and lecture notes. About an hour of studying before each exam got me high A's every time since you get to write note sheets. The readings supplement the lectures very well and she does a great job of explaining all the material you need to know for the class. Extremely interesting topics and great professor.
Eliza Kempton ASTR380 Expecting a B Justacoder 12/01/2023	She is a very passionate and knowledgeable professor. She does want her students to learn and wants engagement during lecture, however it can be a bit too much. This particular class serves as a general credit and many of the students are not in the Major. I feel like she expects too much commitment, homeworks are quite math intensive and not always intitative. She decided on having 3 midterms and a final project. This can lead to quite an overload towards the end of the semester. In my case we have our thrid midterm Monday and Final presenation on Wendsay the same week. Not ideal when studying for other course. Her homeworks can be tricky, there is weekly reading from the textbook, and exams are moderately difficult. Not a bad professor by any means just a bit much. TLDR: Decent professor, course is a little to packed.
Julia Brodsky ASTR380 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/13/2023	the class isn't hard with her. she does reading homework where you have to read pages out of the textbook. then does quizzes based on those readings online on elms. for exams you have the option to do the exam or do a project instead. the exams are open note
Julia Brodsky ASTR380 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/13/2023	i don't really go to lectures but class is pretty easy, she has quizzes on elms based on reading homeworks and for exams you have the option to do the exam or do a project. there are also other assignments sprinkled in but they are not difficult
Thaddeus Komacek ASTR380 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/23/2022	Very nice professor and wants to help you as much as he can. Lectures are pretty boring if you are not super interested in astronomy. The only rough part are the exams since they require you to memorize ALOT from the lectures, but the class gives you a lot of other grades to make up on the exams.
Thaddeus Komacek ASTR380 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2021	Professor Komacek tries his best to make sure you succeed in his class by giving extra credit points and even an optional project to boost up your grade. The hard part of the course is the exams as they require you to memorize a significant amount of information taught in class but otherwise this class is very laid back.
Thaddeus Komacek ASTR380 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/17/2021	Prof. Komacek was a great professor honestly. His lectures were kinda dry and his exams were pretty rough, but he tried his best to make the class fun and interactive, and he was very lenient with grading. If you take 380 with him you'll be in good hands.
Richard Mushotzky ASTR380 Expecting a B- Anonymous 10/12/2020	Very boring, lecture tend to drone on and his slides have way more information than you would need
Suvi Gezari ASTR380 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2019	basically this was the alien class. Gezari was very receptive and nice the semester. Pretty lenient grading
Sylvain Veilleux ASTR380 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2014	Don't be mistaken by my score of 3/5. This is NOT a difficult course. There are going to be a few topics that may be a bit more difficult if you're unfamiliar with them (such as biology or astronomy), but it's easy enough to learn what you need. There's 5 homework assignments of a few questions each throughout the semester that only took about 30 minutes to an hour to complete. One midterm and a final that are completely short answer (approximately 20-25 questions on each exam). My score of 3/5 is just based on the fact I found Dr. Veilleux to be an uninteresting speaker. Going straight from the powerpoint, Dr. Veilleux tried to be engaging and a little excited about the topics, but really just doesn't have the personality for it. Something just felt off, even when speaking to him or asking a question. Other than being a dry speaker, it was an easy course. He posts his lecture slides online. Attendance is sort of "mandatory" in that he will ask a 1 point question after the lecture just to make sure the people that attended and paying attention get credit (though it's usually super easy like "Name one of the rovers on Mars" or "which part of this Evolution lecture are you still not convinced by?") and he doesn't always do it (maybe half the time). I would probably avoid taking a more challenging class with him, but he was adequate for this course.

Douglas Hamilton
ASTR380

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/23/2025

I had him for ASTR 100 and 380, I am a 3rd year stem major which might make my review a little biased, so just know that going in, easy post lecture quizzes with 2 attempts 5 lowest gets dropped, 2 midterms and a cumulative final, IMO not that hard if you actually pay attention in class. the only people i saw struggling were the ones on their phones/ computers the whole time. some of his exam questions were a bit hard for non stem majors/ new students in stem. math wise the class is very light, simple algebra/exponents/simple base 10 logarithms is all you need to know for this class. He posts slides and allows 1 cheat sheet front and back for each midterm and 3 FOR THE FINAL (although the cheat sheets were only in the 380 class, the ASTR 100 class didn't get cheat sheets). In both classes he has lots of examples and try's to put everything in layman terms so everyone can understand. every class he has questions that you answer via his website for the class (basically free clicker) and your participation gets you bonus points for the exam, YOU DONT EVEN NEED TO GET IT RIGHT! me try's to interact/engage with his classes even when the majority of the time they don't respond in kind. Every day after class he stays back to answer question for those that really care. Honestly he is not as bad as some of these comments make him out to be. all in all fun class, if you are a stem major you will do fine, if you aren't stem you might have a bit harder of a time but as long as you put in the effort you will be fine.

Douglas Hamilton
ASTR380

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/19/2025

I'll start with the good- Prof Hamilton is funny and really likes to teach- you can feel his enthusiasm in the room, even if at times the students are dead silent. He also explains complicated topics well and simplifies them to be easily understandable. The problems come with his tests and course structure. 380/Astrobiology is a mess. He said to get the textbook but I couldn't find the version and never read it, not that it would have been much help anyway. But the material goes all over and often to seemingly irrelevant stuff in chemistry and physics that he seems to add just to have more material. His lectures are very info-dumping. Then on the test he asks for the smallest bits of info he's mentioned and I'm personally more of a "big picture" person. He does curve though (not that I followed his explanation for it) so don't worry too much about the grade (but the grade distribution was very low). Also his grading system didn't make any sense to me, so I don't know what my grade will be until I see it, but he does give out extra credit points in class via clicker questions. My bigger problem was that 380 says it's designed for "non-science majors" like myself so I thought it'd be a cool elective. No- he said ASTR100 is a prereq but that info didn't make it to Testudo, so maybe 2/3 of the class actually is in ASTR major or taken other courses. I really think the department ought to enforce that prereq (idk if Hamilton has a say in that) to weed out people who won't do well like me. I was able to understand the material because it was really oversimplified and avoided math, even though I can do some, but I don't believe that should be the case for an upper-level ASTR course. So part of my problem was Hamilton and part of it was the class structure. TL;DR- don't take this unless you're an ASTR major/minor/already know Hamilton and are fine with his style.

Eliza Kempton
ASTR380

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/21/2023

I am an aerospace engineering major taking this course as part of my minor so my view might be a bit biased but people thought this class was hard but I thought it was very easy. Homeworks were very short written responses or just simple calculations. Exams were very easy as long as you reviewed her slides and lecture notes. About an hour of studying before each exam got me high A's every time since you get to write note sheets. The readings supplement the lectures very well and she does a great job of explaining all the material you need to know for the class. Extremely interesting topics and great professor.

Eliza Kempton
ASTR380

Expecting a B
Justacoder
12/01/2023

She is a very passionate and knowledgeable professor. She does want her students to learn and wants engagement during lecture, however it can be a bit too much. This particular class serves as a general credit and many of the students are not in the Major. I feel like she expects too much commitment, homeworks are quite math intensive and not always intitative. She decided on having 3 midterms and a final project. This can lead to quite an overload towards the end of the semester. In my case we have our thrid midterm Monday and Final presenation on Wendsay the same week. Not ideal when studying for other course. Her homeworks can be tricky, there is weekly reading from the textbook, and exams are moderately difficult. Not a bad professor by any means just a bit much. TLDR: Decent professor, course is a little to packed.

Julia Brodsky
ASTR380

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
04/13/2023

the class isn't hard with her. she does reading homework where you have to read pages out of the textbook. then does quizzes based on those readings online on elms. for exams you have the option to do the exam or do a project instead. the exams are open note

Julia Brodsky
ASTR380

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/13/2023

i don't really go to lectures but class is pretty easy, she has quizzes on elms based on reading homeworks and for exams you have the option to do the exam or do a project. there are also other assignments sprinkled in but they are not difficult

Thaddeus Komacek
ASTR380

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/23/2022

Very nice professor and wants to help you as much as he can. Lectures are pretty boring if you are not super interested in astronomy. The only rough part are the exams since they require you to memorize ALOT from the lectures, but the class gives you a lot of other grades to make up on the exams.

Thaddeus Komacek
ASTR380

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/23/2021

Professor Komacek tries his best to make sure you succeed in his class by giving extra credit points and even an optional project to boost up your grade. The hard part of the course is the exams as they require you to memorize a significant amount of information taught in class but otherwise this class is very laid back.

Thaddeus Komacek
ASTR380

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/17/2021

Prof. Komacek was a great professor honestly. His lectures were kinda dry and his exams were pretty rough, but he tried his best to make the class fun and interactive, and he was very lenient with grading. If you take 380 with him you'll be in good hands.

Richard Mushotzky
ASTR380

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
10/12/2020

Very boring, lecture tend to drone on and his slides have way more information than you would need

Suvi Gezari
ASTR380

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/21/2019

basically this was the alien class. Gezari was very receptive and nice the semester. Pretty lenient grading

Sylvain Veilleux
ASTR380

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/03/2014

Don't be mistaken by my score of 3/5. This is NOT a difficult course. There are going to be a few topics that may be a bit more difficult if you're unfamiliar with them (such as biology or astronomy), but it's easy enough to learn what you need. There's 5 homework assignments of a few questions each throughout the semester that only took about 30 minutes to an hour to complete. One midterm and a final that are completely short answer (approximately 20-25 questions on each exam). My score of 3/5 is just based on the fact I found Dr. Veilleux to be an uninteresting speaker. Going straight from the powerpoint, Dr. Veilleux tried to be engaging and a little excited about the topics, but really just doesn't have the personality for it. Something just felt off, even when speaking to him or asking a question. Other than being a dry speaker, it was an easy course. He posts his lecture slides online. Attendance is sort of "mandatory" in that he will ask a 1 point question after the lecture just to make sure the people that attended and paying attention get credit (though it's usually super easy like "Name one of the rovers on Mars" or "which part of this Evolution lecture are you still not convinced by?") and he doesn't always do it (maybe half the time). I would probably avoid taking a more challenging class with him, but he was adequate for this course.

Reviews for ASTR380