Rabindra Mohapatra

This professor has taught: PHYS141, PHYS142, PHYS260, PHYS260H, PHYS270, PHYS374

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Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS260H Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/27/2021	He is a sweet guy, but in the online format he did not use the technology well and taught purely off slides. His lectures covered derivations and concepts and we did not do that many practice problems in class. The exams were fair except for the final, but there was a huge curve at the end of the class.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS260 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/20/2021	His lectures didn't cover everything in the textbook, but I think they were easy to follow. He tried to make sure every person understood each concept, and seemed excited to teach and enjoyed talking to students. His quizzes were fair and he usually would give hints as to what questions and topics were on them, and they were usually similar to the example problems he showed during lectures.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS260 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/13/2021	Mohapatra is a really sweet old man, and I'm sure he would've been a great lecturer had we been in-person. Unfortunately, he's simply not a very effective teacher online, and teaches off PowerPoints with the most atrocious formatting you've ever seen. He attempts to show solutions to example problems but it just isn't the same effect as seeing one being solved handwritten. Gives quizzes and exams that I would say were mostly fair.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS260 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/22/2020	Really bad lectures. Very nice guy but seems out of touch. Tell you something that will be on a test and the test will have something completely different.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS260H Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/06/2019	This dude was hilarious, especially when he did the demos for any topics we covered. He's one of the greatest professors of all time, and 260 was one of the best classes I've taken at UMD. I absolutely would not take the class again since I learned the content so well, but I would take another of his classes again in a heartbeat. The only thing I disliked was mastering physics, but I guess they don't really have any other way of assigning homework for these huge lecture classes.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS260 Expecting a C- Anonymous 10/06/2018	He was the sweetest man. I always went to his office hours because he would spend time with me, explain things to the best of his ability and truly care if i learned the material. Now I was not very good at physics but he def curved fairly and somehow had me pass
Rabindra Mohapatra bond39 12/18/2015	He was not the best lecturer. He had a somewhat convoluted teaching style without a lot of examples incorporated. In the end, I learned everything from the book. However, he was incredibly nice and helpful. Also, his demonstrations (which almost never worked) were always amusing. Overall, I would definitely recommend Mohaptra. He's definitely one of the better physics professors here.
Rabindra Mohapatra Anonymous 12/18/2015	I had mixed feelings about the class. Mohapatra was an extremely sweet and nice man who is willing to help you when you go into office hours. During lecture though he tends to teach more of the theory and proof behind why things are the way they are. I know that since I struggle with physics that wasn't too helpful for me. He has announced weekly quizzes based off the chapter you recently learned. His tests were very fair and I was never caught off guard by a question - I just sucked at physics. Other reviews say his accent was hard to understand, but only a few times was I unsure about what he was saying. He's very funny in class because he'll do demos to help teach a concept to the class and a lot of the times they don't work and a student helps him figure it out. They're pretty funny because he's such a happy older man who loves physics.
Rabindra Mohapatra Expecting an A penguin 05/21/2015	PHYS260 is a difficult class, but Dr. Mohapatra tries his best to help his students understand every concepts taught. The reviews below say that his accent is what gets you and he has pop quizzes. These are all incorrect statements. His accent is fine... he has one, but that is not an issue at all. He welcomes and encourages all students to his office with open arms and tries his best to teach you anything you are confused on. I am horrible at physics (I got a B in PHYS161) but I managed to get an A in this class. If I took a different professor, I defintely would not have gotten the grade I received. Saying this, I am not saying that Mohapatra's exams are easier (I would say they were harder than the other class) but he teaches concepts pretty darn well. He also gave a 10% curve WITH the PHYS261 grade added to your total grade. He's also very funny, so it's hard to fall asleep in class. Great guy!
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS270 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2011	Dr. Mohapatra is a fine lecturer and teacher, but he's not really given much to work with - the material covered in PHYS270 feels disjointed and would likely be difficult regardless of the professor. Our class was apparently two weeks ahead of the other one, so I'm thankful for that. There appears to be a hefty curve in the class.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS270 Expecting an A mreese 12/03/2010	Mohapatra is an average lecturer, and class notes were either somewhat disorganized or not thorough. However, he's really nice and helpful in office hours. The weekly quizzes he gave were fair for the most part, and helped to indicate what topics were most important. Tests were not too difficult, but don't expect to get anywhere without reading the book. The Mastering Physics assignments ranged a bit in difficulty, but were probably the single most useful part of the course. Doing well in this class is all about practicing a variety of problems, and Dr. Mohapatra didn't assign a bunch of single bar problems like the other teacher (Bantu) did. I personally found his accent entertaining and very easy to understand, and I also thought he was pretty funny. He's very responsive by e-mail, and is extremely understanding about grading concerns. You probably won't find much better teachers for PHYS270.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Anonymous 04/26/2010	Funny dude in lecture, but is very difficult to understand. Take a different teacher. Wants to get to know students, so he's good in his limited office hours, but that's the best I can say.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Expecting a C Anonymous 04/20/2009	If you've taken some form of physics before then the class will be pretty straightforward, but Mohapatra's accent made it near impossible to learn anything from the lecture. However, he's a nice enough guy and seemed willing to help if you took the time to go to him and ask questions. Quizzes and homework were annoying, but I probably learned more from those than the lectures. Sad thing is, he's probably one of the better physics professors on campus (the least bad of the physics professors if that makes sense) and I would take him over most of the other physics professors.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Anonymous 12/24/2008	Go to discussion. I made the mistake of not going and learned nothing. His teaching style and accent aren't helpful either. The book won't help you either.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Expecting an A jahs389 11/25/2008	Giving weekly quizzes isn't such a bad thing. You actually learn under this guy, and he is a riot. His demonstrations and explanations are very entertaining. He was also really nice and approachable in his office hours and help me make up they exams I missed.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Expecting an A xinio64 06/02/2008	I did not really get much out of his lectures. They were so boring and his accent got on my nerves. I learned by doing the written homework and masteringphysics. Even though masteringphysics was a huge pain, I actually did get something out of it. He did make jokes occasionally and some were actually funny. The first midterm was easy but the second and third ones were kind of difficult. The final was not that bad. Best advice is to go to office hours, go to discussion class, do the homework in a timely manner, and try to do as many other practice problems from the book.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Anonymous 05/21/2008	Mohapatra in my opinion should stick to teaching grad courses. Not only are his lectures extremely boring, but he makes it a nuisance for students to not go to class. He gives a weekly quiz, which is good and all, but gives them on sporadic times to his whim. In addition, his accent does put a large barrier in terms of learning. If you don't like powerpoints, or find yourself falling asleep while looking at them, do not join his class. He's not a very good teacher. Nice guy, but he definitely doesn't know how to convey the information over to students. He's also quite unreasonable when it comes to problems with the online homework.
Rabindra Mohapatra PHYS161 Anonymous 05/02/2008	Although Mohapatra appears to know his stuff, he doesn't teach very clearly. His accent is an unfortunate barrier, it took me half the semester to get used to it. He used masteringphysics which was a disaster because there were glitches with the program. Despite many complaints, he remained indifferent to the fact that many people had low homework grades because the online homework wasn't working correctly. He usually just gives confusing proofs in class and doesn't always point out which forumlas are worth knowing. He is, however, very eager to help anyone who comes to office hours or makes an appointment so if you don't understand something, take some time to see him after class. Despite his confusing explanations, he is happy to help anyone who is truely interested.