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Theodore L Einstein PHYS603 Expecting a B dbargteil 04/23/2012	I posted the following critique to a tool we used to allow classmates to communicate with each other and Dr. Einstein about homework: "I have not been satisfied by the lectures thus far for the class. I thought it may be productive if there was some open conversation between the students that Dr. Einstein could see that might provide some constructive critiques about the lectures and suggestions for what changes we may like to see. Here are some notes I thought of today. -I would appreciate it if more attention was given to notation. Today you wrote on the board a function W without (as far as I could tell) saying what W was. Another example from today was <mathematical formula not shown here>, which to me was very confusing because I'm not sure what was meant by the bar, which did not seem like standard use of notation to me. -I would appreciate it if the goals of the analysis were more explicit. I have heard "the game you play" or "what you have to do" followed by a short explanation of the next step in the analysis, but the reasoning behind that step or what it will get us on the way is often not explicit. -I have some difficulty understanding the motivation behind some of the goals of the analysis. Sometimes we will calculate the entropy or some other thermodynamic quantity of something, but the treatment is very abstract. While this affords a nice degree of generality, it is difficult to keep in mind what the quantities actually say about such an abstract system. It may be helpful to make references during calculations to a real physical system, even if it is just an ideal gas in a box or something of that nature. -There has not seemed to have been thus far much explicit coherence among the topics we have discussed, no obvious thread of commonality or narrative to the content. Right now as I feel as though my notes are a laundry list of facts that apply to particular systems under particular conditions. I can follow the calculations that lead to the results, but have little appreciation of the fundamental underpinnings. I hope that my classmates have additional comments to add that may be able to bring improvements to the lecture, and that Dr. Einstein will find these critiques helpful." There was no response to the critique and no attempt to reform the lecture by Dr. Einstein. Attendance in the class was extremely poor, perhaps a quarter or third of students actually attended, and in class there was an atmosphere of tension and discomfort between the students and Dr. Einstein. The class in no way helped me understand any physics, just learn a bit about symbolic mathematical manipulation.