PHYS106 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/24/2024	One of the best professors in the physics department. Despite this is merely a gen ed, his lectures shows how good he can teach. Goodman has organise lectures and slides, also a reasonable distribution of work. Exams are basically covered in the review sections. For many optical phenomenon, Goodman provided examples which are either pictures, and/or actual demonstrations, explains every bit one needs to comprehend. At least just for the significant amount of really cool in class demonstrations, you should take it.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/27/2024	I enjoyed my time with Professor Goodman. He is clearly enthusiastic about this subject. Unfortunately, I am not strong in physics, so I struggled a lot in this class. He records lectures and posts them, but sometimes that is not helpful as not all of the information you need to know is on there. The quizzes were helpful in studying, but I wished that he would tell us each week what subjects are on the quizzes to help us prepare. Overall, I liked having class with him, but am definitely not taking physics any time soon.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/25/2024	TLDR: Goodman is a good professor and you won't do bad in the class if you submit things on time and really put some effort in learning. You can already see that I haven't given this professor 5 stars, so to explain myself, I will divide my reasoning into pros and cons. Pros: - You will definitely learn something cool from this guy. He's very knowledgeable in the field of physics, and he does do a great job in dumbing down things for us, even to the point of relativity, which is crazy! - He's funny as well. Yes, he's old (QUITE OLD), so maybe not all of his jokes might be funny but overall you will vibe in his classes so you should definitely attend his classes. - The questions he ask on exam are mostly questions that are almost (if not exactly) the same from the clickers, lectures, homework, quizzes. That being said, his exams are quite do able, but you should still study for it if you want to get like an A+ or something (which I found hard to get even though I am a bright student) - Demos and Clickers: All his demos are awesome and cool and usually help you understand the concepts. His clickers usually (NOT ALWAYS) help with understanding the concept, but it requires further understanding through using Google/ChatGPT. Cons: - Very Unorganized: I am really sorry to say this but this dude is very unorganized. His lecture slides are basically a mess, because most of it are pictures and barely words. You need to go to his lectures to be able to understand the concepts really well. Also, it just doesn't make sense how we spent most of the beginning unit to study conversions and units (which is a very basic high school thing) and spend tad bit on relativity and complex quantum stuff, which is beyond the scope of what we are learning in PHYS106. He's definitely a genius and smart man, but I get it that it can be difficult to organize all these content really well piece by piece and in a flow and balance, which isn't tempting to do so assuming that this is really just a gen ed class (but doesn't mean you won't learn anything --> YOU WILL, QUITE A LOT, and LOTS OF COOL STUFF) - Clickers and Lectures: So basically, classes are mandatory and there are clicker questions that you need to respond to (that's basically the way he checks for your participation). Clickers are for your participation, so you need to be in class for that. Kinda annoying but still not a bad idea since I believe attending the lectures do help. - Recordings: Yes he posts lecture recordings but the audio sometimes isn't that good. So keep that in mind. - Exam Grading: I think the dumbest thing is the fact that he makes a very simple one-word answer question worth like 5 points (and having tons of those kinds in an exam), which can mess your grade quite a lot. If you actually got an 81, you should've maybe gotten at least a 90. He did curve my class and it did help my grade, but yeah it just makes me mad about getting a certain score on an exam even though I studied a lot for it and didn't do that bad on it either. Overall, he is a great professor. Definitely take this PHYS106 class, you'll learn a lot and while I can't give him full stars, he's done a great job teaching this class.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/16/2024	The quizzes are timed, which can be kind of pressure inducing, but he does drop your lowest test score, lowest quiz score, and 3 of your missed clicker days. Anyway, as someone who was instantly terrified after the first lecture that they made a mistake signing up for this class, I actually gained a lot of knowledge about things relevant in my real life (photography, lighting, colors, wavelengths, how mirrors work, how eyeglasses work) to be really interesting. It can be confusing at times, but if you ask him questions either during the lecture, after the lecture, through email, or even come to his office, he cares enough to explain and go through it WITH you so you understand. The math involved is pretty easy and he gives you the formulas so you don't have to remember, and you can use a calculator. I didn't find the textbook very easy to read, however his powerpoint and guide for the exams are perfect to take notes and study from. Super nice guy, funny, really loves science and teaching. I enjoyed this class.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/15/2024	Such a nice professor, and you can tell how passionate he is about his work. However, the material is SO hard. It's a lot of stuff to learn, and really hard to understand it fully. Exams are a lot like the study guides and practice exams you are given, but you really need to know how to apply the concepts learned in class in many different ways. The professor does a good job at explaining; it's just a lot of stuff to remember and learn. There were weekly quizzes and hws from the textbooks, which can also tank your grade if you're not doing well in those too. He also does participation grades with the clicker questions. Other than that, there are 2 exams throughout the course and the final. Definitely one of the hardest gen-eds I have ever taken.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/10/2024	One of the best physics professors at UMD.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting a W Anonymous 02/29/2024	DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! I want to start off by saying - the professor is a great guy. Really nice, really educated, really accomplished, and funny. With all that said, I DESPISE THIS CLASS!!!! I wanted to take a straightforward gen ed for my lab requirement - the lab is easy but this class is NOT. Unorganized, extremely hard quizzes (you will fail the hw quizzes even if they are on canvas), and the content is so hard and not taught properly. So much content to cover and it is difficult to understand. I am going to withdraw from this class. DO NOT make the mistake of taking this course - it is unnecessarily stressful and does not feel like a level 100 gen ed. I went to go get tutored for this class and the content is so niche and difficult that the physics department kind of struggled with getting me a tutor, and they all told me juniors take this class as intro to optics - as in junior physic majors. DO NOT TAKE IT - SAVE YOURSELF AND TAKE GEOLOGY OR AOSC OR SMTH.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/04/2023	A lot of these reviews are pretty dated, so it's probably time to give an updated review. To start, Jordan Goodman is wayyyy overqualified to be teaching this course. As such, he has some high expectations for his students. His lectures cover a lot for a 100-level class, and it can be pretty easy to lose track of his lectures. The class requires a decent amount of work out of class, but nothing ridiculous ( 3-4 hrs a week?). His exams are probably medium-easy if you study for around 2-3 hours beforehand. As a professor though, he is great with a good sense of humor and is obviously passionate about what he teaches. He definitely reciprocates respect, so if you show up to class and participate, he's more likely to be lenient with you. Despite his class being a little harder than most natural science gen-eds, the corresponding lab (PHYS107) is the easiest lab you could ever take. Overall, I'd recommend this class to people looking for a gen ed class if you have a good habit of going to class.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting an A Thatguy 02/18/2011	Possibly the best class that I've ever taken. Professor Goodman always kept the class entertained and focused. Very interesting and enlightening, I recommend everyone to take this class. Book is not necessary. Class is very easy with a minimal amount of work.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting an A tulch 04/10/2009	I was worried about having to take a science lab for CORE, as I normally hate science classes, but PHYS106 was amazing! The lab itself was really, really easy. And Professor Goodman's lectures were very interesting and relevant to what I care about. One of my majors is Studio Art, so it was great to be in a science class where you get to learn about illusions and how your brain perceives color. The only slightly annoying bit is that he uses clickers, but then again, going to class was seldom a hassle. You have to write a short paper, but it could be about nearly ANYTHING related to the subject, so it's not bad at all. I highly recommend this class to anyone looking for a good lab for non-science majors.
Jordan Goodman PHYS106 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/20/2008	J. Goodman is an awesome professor! He is very personable and down to earth with his students. He encourages people to come to his office hours and helps them with their homework. Course material is actally pretty interesting and is presented in an understandable and applicable way. Professor is funny and loves what he does and wants to share his excitment. However, attendance is really important because clicker questions ( $50 clicker btw) are in every class and 15% of the grade. Tests and homework are challenging but fair and come directly from lectures. overall A+
William Dorland PHYS106 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/29/2008	I though that Professor Dorland was a terrific Professor. It was not an easy class, and I hated the textbook, so in order to do well, you had better spend some time visiting him during office hours. I also took the lab, which has nothing to do with the classroom. If you sit up front, ask questions, and take notes, you'll end up with a reasonable grade.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/24/2024

One of the best professors in the physics department. Despite this is merely a gen ed, his lectures shows how good he can teach. Goodman has organise lectures and slides, also a reasonable distribution of work. Exams are basically covered in the review sections. For many optical phenomenon, Goodman provided examples which are either pictures, and/or actual demonstrations, explains every bit one needs to comprehend. At least just for the significant amount of really cool in class demonstrations, you should take it.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/27/2024

I enjoyed my time with Professor Goodman. He is clearly enthusiastic about this subject. Unfortunately, I am not strong in physics, so I struggled a lot in this class. He records lectures and posts them, but sometimes that is not helpful as not all of the information you need to know is on there. The quizzes were helpful in studying, but I wished that he would tell us each week what subjects are on the quizzes to help us prepare. Overall, I liked having class with him, but am definitely not taking physics any time soon.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/25/2024

TLDR: Goodman is a good professor and you won't do bad in the class if you submit things on time and really put some effort in learning. You can already see that I haven't given this professor 5 stars, so to explain myself, I will divide my reasoning into pros and cons. Pros: - You will definitely learn something cool from this guy. He's very knowledgeable in the field of physics, and he does do a great job in dumbing down things for us, even to the point of relativity, which is crazy! - He's funny as well. Yes, he's old (QUITE OLD), so maybe not all of his jokes might be funny but overall you will vibe in his classes so you should definitely attend his classes. - The questions he ask on exam are mostly questions that are almost (if not exactly) the same from the clickers, lectures, homework, quizzes. That being said, his exams are quite do able, but you should still study for it if you want to get like an A+ or something (which I found hard to get even though I am a bright student) - Demos and Clickers: All his demos are awesome and cool and usually help you understand the concepts. His clickers usually (NOT ALWAYS) help with understanding the concept, but it requires further understanding through using Google/ChatGPT. Cons: - Very Unorganized: I am really sorry to say this but this dude is very unorganized. His lecture slides are basically a mess, because most of it are pictures and barely words. You need to go to his lectures to be able to understand the concepts really well. Also, it just doesn't make sense how we spent most of the beginning unit to study conversions and units (which is a very basic high school thing) and spend tad bit on relativity and complex quantum stuff, which is beyond the scope of what we are learning in PHYS106. He's definitely a genius and smart man, but I get it that it can be difficult to organize all these content really well piece by piece and in a flow and balance, which isn't tempting to do so assuming that this is really just a gen ed class (but doesn't mean you won't learn anything --> YOU WILL, QUITE A LOT, and LOTS OF COOL STUFF) - Clickers and Lectures: So basically, classes are mandatory and there are clicker questions that you need to respond to (that's basically the way he checks for your participation). Clickers are for your participation, so you need to be in class for that. Kinda annoying but still not a bad idea since I believe attending the lectures do help. - Recordings: Yes he posts lecture recordings but the audio sometimes isn't that good. So keep that in mind. - Exam Grading: I think the dumbest thing is the fact that he makes a very simple one-word answer question worth like 5 points (and having tons of those kinds in an exam), which can mess your grade quite a lot. If you actually got an 81, you should've maybe gotten at least a 90. He did curve my class and it did help my grade, but yeah it just makes me mad about getting a certain score on an exam even though I studied a lot for it and didn't do that bad on it either. Overall, he is a great professor. Definitely take this PHYS106 class, you'll learn a lot and while I can't give him full stars, he's done a great job teaching this class.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/16/2024

The quizzes are timed, which can be kind of pressure inducing, but he does drop your lowest test score, lowest quiz score, and 3 of your missed clicker days. Anyway, as someone who was instantly terrified after the first lecture that they made a mistake signing up for this class, I actually gained a lot of knowledge about things relevant in my real life (photography, lighting, colors, wavelengths, how mirrors work, how eyeglasses work) to be really interesting. It can be confusing at times, but if you ask him questions either during the lecture, after the lecture, through email, or even come to his office, he cares enough to explain and go through it WITH you so you understand. The math involved is pretty easy and he gives you the formulas so you don't have to remember, and you can use a calculator. I didn't find the textbook very easy to read, however his powerpoint and guide for the exams are perfect to take notes and study from. Super nice guy, funny, really loves science and teaching. I enjoyed this class.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/15/2024

Such a nice professor, and you can tell how passionate he is about his work. However, the material is SO hard. It's a lot of stuff to learn, and really hard to understand it fully. Exams are a lot like the study guides and practice exams you are given, but you really need to know how to apply the concepts learned in class in many different ways. The professor does a good job at explaining; it's just a lot of stuff to remember and learn. There were weekly quizzes and hws from the textbooks, which can also tank your grade if you're not doing well in those too. He also does participation grades with the clicker questions. Other than that, there are 2 exams throughout the course and the final. Definitely one of the hardest gen-eds I have ever taken.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/10/2024

One of the best physics professors at UMD.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting a W
Anonymous
02/29/2024

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!!! I want to start off by saying - the professor is a great guy. Really nice, really educated, really accomplished, and funny. With all that said, I DESPISE THIS CLASS!!!! I wanted to take a straightforward gen ed for my lab requirement - the lab is easy but this class is NOT. Unorganized, extremely hard quizzes (you will fail the hw quizzes even if they are on canvas), and the content is so hard and not taught properly. So much content to cover and it is difficult to understand. I am going to withdraw from this class. DO NOT make the mistake of taking this course - it is unnecessarily stressful and does not feel like a level 100 gen ed. I went to go get tutored for this class and the content is so niche and difficult that the physics department kind of struggled with getting me a tutor, and they all told me juniors take this class as intro to optics - as in junior physic majors. DO NOT TAKE IT - SAVE YOURSELF AND TAKE GEOLOGY OR AOSC OR SMTH.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/04/2023

A lot of these reviews are pretty dated, so it's probably time to give an updated review. To start, Jordan Goodman is wayyyy overqualified to be teaching this course. As such, he has some high expectations for his students. His lectures cover a lot for a 100-level class, and it can be pretty easy to lose track of his lectures. The class requires a decent amount of work out of class, but nothing ridiculous ( 3-4 hrs a week?). His exams are probably medium-easy if you study for around 2-3 hours beforehand. As a professor though, he is great with a good sense of humor and is obviously passionate about what he teaches. He definitely reciprocates respect, so if you show up to class and participate, he's more likely to be lenient with you. Despite his class being a little harder than most natural science gen-eds, the corresponding lab (PHYS107) is the easiest lab you could ever take. Overall, I'd recommend this class to people looking for a gen ed class if you have a good habit of going to class.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting an A
Thatguy
02/18/2011

Possibly the best class that I've ever taken. Professor Goodman always kept the class entertained and focused. Very interesting and enlightening, I recommend everyone to take this class. Book is not necessary. Class is very easy with a minimal amount of work.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting an A
tulch
04/10/2009

I was worried about having to take a science lab for CORE, as I normally hate science classes, but PHYS106 was amazing! The lab itself was really, really easy. And Professor Goodman's lectures were very interesting and relevant to what I care about. One of my majors is Studio Art, so it was great to be in a science class where you get to learn about illusions and how your brain perceives color. The only slightly annoying bit is that he uses clickers, but then again, going to class was seldom a hassle. You have to write a short paper, but it could be about nearly ANYTHING related to the subject, so it's not bad at all. I highly recommend this class to anyone looking for a good lab for non-science majors.

Jordan Goodman
PHYS106

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/20/2008

J. Goodman is an awesome professor! He is very personable and down to earth with his students. He encourages people to come to his office hours and helps them with their homework. Course material is actally pretty interesting and is presented in an understandable and applicable way. Professor is funny and loves what he does and wants to share his excitment. However, attendance is really important because clicker questions ( $50 clicker btw) are in every class and 15% of the grade. Tests and homework are challenging but fair and come directly from lectures. overall A+

William Dorland
PHYS106

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/29/2008

I though that Professor Dorland was a terrific Professor. It was not an easy class, and I hated the textbook, so in order to do well, you had better spend some time visiting him during office hours. I also took the lab, which has nothing to do with the classroom. If you sit up front, ask questions, and take notes, you'll end up with a reasonable grade.

Reviews for PHYS106