Chandra Turpen | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Anonymous 02/10/2025	Ignore the 2 star review from 12/21. That person clearly had some personal issues with the professor, because saying she's not understanding or considerate is laughable and simply not true.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2024	Professor Turpen seems kind at first but just isn't an understanding/considerate person at all. I felt that she didn't really understand at a high level the topics she was teaching herself. The class was really easy, which I think provides evidence for that claim. There were many questions that were literally just plugging things into your calculator. At this point in the major, you should already know how to do that. She isn't great at explaining concepts/techniques (though that didn't matter so much because the concepts/techniques themselves were easy). The in-class "poll" questions are weirdly phrased sometimes, and they show her lack of understanding of the topics she is teaching. There were some assignments that felt pretty useless, and there is 6% participation credit, which is ok but I wish it weren't there so that you could miss class and catch up later if you needed. There are 3 exams and a final, and they were all very fair, i.e. they were what you learned in class/HWs. HWs were also very fair. Exams overall make up 50% of your grade, and HWs/"readings" are (26+4)%. People say PHYS371 is useless for a class, and that's pretty accurate. You learn some useful things, but for a class, it's just pretty pointless when you could very easily learn relevant info yourself before taking quantum. In other words, I think there isn't enough useful info in this course to have it as a separate course entirely, and I feel that it was a bit too much of a waste. While at the time of writing this I haven't taken quantum yet, I think you could learn all the quantum stuff in quantum, i.e. you don't need this course to get introduced to quantum. The quantum stuff you go over is pretty basic, and honestly you learn techniques for solving very simple problems moreso than concepts, which I feel is more important. I appreciated that she gave practice exams, which definitely helped you prepare for each exam. There were also exam review sessions held by the TAs, which were relatively useful. Finally there are homework and exam corrections, which just aren't needed for a course like this, but still that's a good thing (though I heard you have to write a lot even for simple mistakes that don't require such explanations because there isn't much to reflect on). Overall, you shouldn't have too much difficulty with this class. Just review HWs and do the practice exam for each exam and you'll be fine. Honestly, I think people subconsciously think she's an awesome teacher because this class is so easy compared to other classes they've taken.. don't let that fool you too.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2024	Fantastic professor, no questions asked. Prof Turpen's lectures are unlike typical ones of a professor simply reading off a board with no energy. This class is the opposite - the lectures are graded for attendance but you only benefit from going + 4 are dropped. Homeworks are all reasonable levels of difficulty and one free extension is given (12 HW total). Biggest upside to the class was EXAM/HW REVISIONS. If you were slightly off in your understanding of ONE HW problems, you write up a revision and earn back half of ALL the points from all the problems you missed, its a game changer. The exams require a revision for each individual problem but it still is very helpful. Take this professor.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2024	Professor Turpen is by far the best physics professor I've had at UMD. I appreciated her pedagogical approach to physics where she emphasized understanding the material rather than trying to destroy our GPAs. It's quite refreshing to feel like I can truly enjoy the material rather than worrying about exams. For homeworks and exams she allowed us to revise them for half credit back, and her exams were very fair. I wish other professors in the physics department would teach like she did.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2024	She is the best physics course professor I've had. She knows how to teach and has done an excellent job crafting this course's sequence and experience. This course was easier than other physics courses, but it was a nice break from tediously long derivations and gut-wrenchingly difficult exams. If you put in anything more than 1 hour a week for this course you are guaranteed an A.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A czanike1 12/11/2024	Dr. Turpen is the absolute BEST! The list of amazing things she does is quite possibly endless, but I will do my best to list them anyway! She adapts her lectures based on what would be most helpful for us, meaning she will completely derail her own lesson plans to have review days as needed, and she will still make sure to get us where we need to get to by the end of the course. The best educators are ones that are able to take students of varying levels and equip ALL of them with the knowledge they need by the end of the course, and Professor Turpen could very well be the best educator. She gives us practice exams with solutions and writes incredible homework that greatly enhances our learning. She never leaves a student behind and makes special relativity (which is not by any means an easy thing to understand) so digestible it might as well be ice cream. All because of Dr. Turpen, I was able to achieve a level of mastery and understanding with this material that I haven't really had since high school. I can confidently say that I understand modern physics in its entirety, and every single professor at UMD--nay, the WORLD--should be taking notes! Professor Turpen literally does research in physics education, so it makes sense that she's so awesome, and all of my wishes every time I blow out birthday candles--mine or somebody else's--will be for whatever physics professor I have next to have a fraction of the teaching talent that Dr. Turpen has.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2024	I’m honestly just bracing for the whiplash of not taking a class with Dr. Turpen next semester — this professor should teach every class in the department. She’s one of the only professors I've had who truly sees her students as human beings, not robots. Lectures are not just 50 minutes of force feeding material like other classes — she stops frequently for questions and polls the class with interactive comprehension questions to make sure that we're really understanding what's going on. Homeworks are expertly crafted to actually support our learning process and I always know that, even if I didn't understand what's happening in lecture, I'll understand it after the homework. Her exams are incredibly fair and she provides such an amazing support system with her review sessions, practice exams, homework corrections, test corrections, and TAs. She sincerely wants to see everyone succeed and, if you put in the work, you'll learn so much from her class. I hope I get to learn from her again at some point — seriously, take a class with Dr. Turpen if you can :)
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/11/2024	Professor Turpin is one of the few professors in the physics department who genuinely seems to care about you learning concepts. Exams were very fair- often times, other professors seem more interested in over complicating problems, or tricking you. This is absolutely not the case for her class. There is lots of TA-student interaction time outside of class (if you need it). There are weekly office hours dedicated to group solving homework problems. Just make sure you show up to class because attendance/participation is a surprisingly large percent of your grade
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2023	Professor Turpen is one of the kindest professors I have ever encountered. She genuinely cares about learning and allows students to redo exam/homework problems for partial credit which is really helpful for not only boosting your grade, but learning material in the class. It is a tough course, but she sets up students to succeed. That being said, my only complaint is that it takes forever to get grades back in this class. I still have ungraded assignments from September which is frustrating not having a solid clear grade going into finals. Aside from that, I loved taking 371 with her and could not recommend her more. I hope I get to take another class with her!
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2023	Dr. Turpen is simply an amazing professor. She really cared about us learning the physics while not making the class too difficult. Lectures were easy to follow and we had in-class participation quizzes that really helped to reinforce what we were learning. The homeworks were never too difficult or long, and exams were fair. If Dr. Turpen is teaching 371 for your semester, you'll be in for a treat.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/29/2023	She should teach every class in the physics department. Seriously. This has been by far my favorite physics class at UMD. Dr. Turpen and her TA's are wonderful and I would highly, HIGHLY recommend taking her class.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/10/2023	One of the best professors I've had at UMD. This professors research focus is physics education, and it shows in her educational ability. You can tell she very much cares about your learning, creates a really nice learning environment in class, uses clear slides and posts the weekly readings in an organized manner. Very good professor to talk to about any issues you might be having, and very helpful if you want to ask for help with anything physics related. She even takes a couple classes to focus on future career interests, and is willing to help students with that part of their college lives.
Chandra Turpen PHYS371 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/23/2023	Chandra is a fantastic professor who really prioritizes student learning. The content is difficult, but the group problem solving sessions are super helpful and she provides exam and homework corrections which make learning the material more obtainable. Although I don't love that she only uses slides for lecture, they are helpful for review. Some combination of slides and working things out on the board would be even better.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Anonymous
02/10/2025

Ignore the 2 star review from 12/21. That person clearly had some personal issues with the professor, because saying she's not understanding or considerate is laughable and simply not true.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2024

Professor Turpen seems kind at first but just isn't an understanding/considerate person at all. I felt that she didn't really understand at a high level the topics she was teaching herself. The class was really easy, which I think provides evidence for that claim. There were many questions that were literally just plugging things into your calculator. At this point in the major, you should already know how to do that. She isn't great at explaining concepts/techniques (though that didn't matter so much because the concepts/techniques themselves were easy). The in-class "poll" questions are weirdly phrased sometimes, and they show her lack of understanding of the topics she is teaching. There were some assignments that felt pretty useless, and there is 6% participation credit, which is ok but I wish it weren't there so that you could miss class and catch up later if you needed. There are 3 exams and a final, and they were all very fair, i.e. they were what you learned in class/HWs. HWs were also very fair. Exams overall make up 50% of your grade, and HWs/"readings" are (26+4)%. People say PHYS371 is useless for a class, and that's pretty accurate. You learn some useful things, but for a class, it's just pretty pointless when you could very easily learn relevant info yourself before taking quantum. In other words, I think there isn't enough useful info in this course to have it as a separate course entirely, and I feel that it was a bit too much of a waste. While at the time of writing this I haven't taken quantum yet, I think you could learn all the quantum stuff in quantum, i.e. you don't need this course to get introduced to quantum. The quantum stuff you go over is pretty basic, and honestly you learn techniques for solving very simple problems moreso than concepts, which I feel is more important. I appreciated that she gave practice exams, which definitely helped you prepare for each exam. There were also exam review sessions held by the TAs, which were relatively useful. Finally there are homework and exam corrections, which just aren't needed for a course like this, but still that's a good thing (though I heard you have to write a lot even for simple mistakes that don't require such explanations because there isn't much to reflect on). Overall, you shouldn't have too much difficulty with this class. Just review HWs and do the practice exam for each exam and you'll be fine. Honestly, I think people subconsciously think she's an awesome teacher because this class is so easy compared to other classes they've taken.. don't let that fool you too.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/19/2024

Fantastic professor, no questions asked. Prof Turpen's lectures are unlike typical ones of a professor simply reading off a board with no energy. This class is the opposite - the lectures are graded for attendance but you only benefit from going + 4 are dropped. Homeworks are all reasonable levels of difficulty and one free extension is given (12 HW total). Biggest upside to the class was EXAM/HW REVISIONS. If you were slightly off in your understanding of ONE HW problems, you write up a revision and earn back half of ALL the points from all the problems you missed, its a game changer. The exams require a revision for each individual problem but it still is very helpful. Take this professor.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2024

Professor Turpen is by far the best physics professor I've had at UMD. I appreciated her pedagogical approach to physics where she emphasized understanding the material rather than trying to destroy our GPAs. It's quite refreshing to feel like I can truly enjoy the material rather than worrying about exams. For homeworks and exams she allowed us to revise them for half credit back, and her exams were very fair. I wish other professors in the physics department would teach like she did.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/11/2024

She is the best physics course professor I've had. She knows how to teach and has done an excellent job crafting this course's sequence and experience. This course was easier than other physics courses, but it was a nice break from tediously long derivations and gut-wrenchingly difficult exams. If you put in anything more than 1 hour a week for this course you are guaranteed an A.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A
czanike1
12/11/2024

Dr. Turpen is the absolute BEST! The list of amazing things she does is quite possibly endless, but I will do my best to list them anyway! She adapts her lectures based on what would be most helpful for us, meaning she will completely derail her own lesson plans to have review days as needed, and she will still make sure to get us where we need to get to by the end of the course. The best educators are ones that are able to take students of varying levels and equip ALL of them with the knowledge they need by the end of the course, and Professor Turpen could very well be the best educator. She gives us practice exams with solutions and writes incredible homework that greatly enhances our learning. She never leaves a student behind and makes special relativity (which is not by any means an easy thing to understand) so digestible it might as well be ice cream. All because of Dr. Turpen, I was able to achieve a level of mastery and understanding with this material that I haven't really had since high school. I can confidently say that I understand modern physics in its entirety, and every single professor at UMD--nay, the WORLD--should be taking notes! Professor Turpen literally does research in physics education, so it makes sense that she's so awesome, and all of my wishes every time I blow out birthday candles--mine or somebody else's--will be for whatever physics professor I have next to have a fraction of the teaching talent that Dr. Turpen has.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/09/2024

I’m honestly just bracing for the whiplash of not taking a class with Dr. Turpen next semester — this professor should teach every class in the department. She’s one of the only professors I've had who truly sees her students as human beings, not robots. Lectures are not just 50 minutes of force feeding material like other classes — she stops frequently for questions and polls the class with interactive comprehension questions to make sure that we're really understanding what's going on. Homeworks are expertly crafted to actually support our learning process and I always know that, even if I didn't understand what's happening in lecture, I'll understand it after the homework. Her exams are incredibly fair and she provides such an amazing support system with her review sessions, practice exams, homework corrections, test corrections, and TAs. She sincerely wants to see everyone succeed and, if you put in the work, you'll learn so much from her class. I hope I get to learn from her again at some point — seriously, take a class with Dr. Turpen if you can :)

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/11/2024

Professor Turpin is one of the few professors in the physics department who genuinely seems to care about you learning concepts. Exams were very fair- often times, other professors seem more interested in over complicating problems, or tricking you. This is absolutely not the case for her class. There is lots of TA-student interaction time outside of class (if you need it). There are weekly office hours dedicated to group solving homework problems. Just make sure you show up to class because attendance/participation is a surprisingly large percent of your grade

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/12/2023

Professor Turpen is one of the kindest professors I have ever encountered. She genuinely cares about learning and allows students to redo exam/homework problems for partial credit which is really helpful for not only boosting your grade, but learning material in the class. It is a tough course, but she sets up students to succeed. That being said, my only complaint is that it takes forever to get grades back in this class. I still have ungraded assignments from September which is frustrating not having a solid clear grade going into finals. Aside from that, I loved taking 371 with her and could not recommend her more. I hope I get to take another class with her!

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/10/2023

Dr. Turpen is simply an amazing professor. She really cared about us learning the physics while not making the class too difficult. Lectures were easy to follow and we had in-class participation quizzes that really helped to reinforce what we were learning. The homeworks were never too difficult or long, and exams were fair. If Dr. Turpen is teaching 371 for your semester, you'll be in for a treat.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/29/2023

She should teach every class in the physics department. Seriously. This has been by far my favorite physics class at UMD. Dr. Turpen and her TA's are wonderful and I would highly, HIGHLY recommend taking her class.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/10/2023

One of the best professors I've had at UMD. This professors research focus is physics education, and it shows in her educational ability. You can tell she very much cares about your learning, creates a really nice learning environment in class, uses clear slides and posts the weekly readings in an organized manner. Very good professor to talk to about any issues you might be having, and very helpful if you want to ask for help with anything physics related. She even takes a couple classes to focus on future career interests, and is willing to help students with that part of their college lives.

Chandra Turpen
PHYS371

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/23/2023

Chandra is a fantastic professor who really prioritizes student learning. The content is difficult, but the group problem solving sessions are super helpful and she provides exam and homework corrections which make learning the material more obtainable. Although I don't love that she only uses slides for lecture, they are helpful for review. Some combination of slides and working things out on the board would be even better.