Unsolicited Student Comments
Regarding Duane Deardorff's Teaching
E-mail dated 8/1/2005
from Emeline M. Aviki emeline.aviki@duke.edu
Subject: My
experience with Dr. Deardorff
Dear Dr. McNeil,
I
hope this e-mail finds you well. I was
just e-mailing to share with you my experience as a student of Dr.
Deardorff. I am a rising senior at Duke
and chose to take the second semester of physics over the summer at UNC
due to the price efficiency of the course. I
was OVERWHELMED with what an amazing experience I had.
My physical sciences score alone on the MCAT rose from a 5 to a
10 after having completing the course. Dr.
Deardorff's method differed significantly from my first semester
physics professor at Duke. He emphasized
concepts versus math. I remember him
saying that a student could likely get all of the math correct for a
question without having any understanding of the actual concepts. With this in mind, he drilled us with concept
tests and focused class time on helping us understand why the math
works rather than just working problems. His
approach motivated me to study harder in order to actually know what
was going on rather than what i needed to plug into an equation to get
the correct answer.
His availability outside of
the classroom was also VERY beneficial for his students.
If I was ever stuck on a problem, i would immediately either
call his office or e-mail him. I have
never had a professor offer help over the phone until Dr. Deardorff. When it was late at night and the only option
was to e-mail...his responses were always very prompt and the
explanations were detailed.
My experience in Dr. Deardorff's class has not only caused me to
actually LIKE physics...it has also completely changed my perception of
the University of North
Carolina. Prior
to this class, I'll be honest and tell you that I considered it an
inferior institution with less apt professors et cettera. Those
impressions have been completely wiped away as i now envy UNC students
knowing that they have professors like Dr. Deardorff.
Respectfully,
Emily Aviki
_____________________________
<>Emeline M. Aviki
Class of 2006 President
Duke University
Student review from Pick-A-Prof, 8/30/2005
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Strengths
He's the most enthusiastic and innovative professor I've had on campus.
Lots of demos, and fortunately he didn't stand there and read from the
book. If you like a professor who teaches straight form the book, don't
take this class. He does expect you to read and understand a lot of the
book on your own time, but his class comments were normally closely
tied to sections in the book, just taught from a different perspective.
His lectures helped me understand the material better, but you
definitely will do a lot of work and spend a lot of time on this class.
Participation is part of the grade. I liked the fact that his class did
not just depend on the exams and that he gave chances for extra credit.
Drawbacks
I don’t recommend taking him during the summer. The homework in the
summer was very demanding and exhausting as two assignments often were
due every day. The real world problems a! re terrible, the best
approach is to get in a good group and discuss them. His tests are very
difficult. His style of grading did allow for more opportunities than
just exams, which is how I pulled my grade up. Homework is worth one
test grade and is done online. Also a lot of extra credit, but the
extra credit is time demanding (creating a webpage, making up your own
real world problem and solution). Very accessible, as he spends time in
the Tutorial Center along with office
hours. Use tutorial center, great resource. -
|
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E-mail
dated 3/26/06 from fahmy@email.unc.edu
Professor
Deardorff,
I just wanted to let you know that I learned so much from your PHYS 25
class. It was by far the best physics class that I have taken.
The material in the class has been very helpful in my daily life.
When I took the Optometry Admissions Test (OAT) this summer, out of all
the subjects, I scored the highest in physics. The physics portion was
not easy because the national average for the physics OAT is lower than
in any other subject. I currently work at the Eye Care Center, and
there have been so many people who ask me, "Why should I get the
polarized sunglasses?" or "Why is my contact lens prescription
different than my glasses prescription?", and I am able to answer the
questions confidently after taking your class. Thank you again!
Carol Fahmy
E-mail dated 1/14/2005
from ebelde@email.unc.edu
Subject: Phys25 class today<> Just wanted
to let
you know that I really enjoyed class today! I HATED phys 24 with a
passion and rarely went. But after today I am sure I wont be missing
any phys 25 classes! It really helps to have such a caring and
enthusiastic professor for such difficult material. Keep it up! :) <>
Sincerely,
Erica Beldegreen
E-mail dated 6/2/2004
from oldskool@email.unc.edu
Subject: Thank You
Professor Deardorff,
I am working in a toxicology lab this summer and have
been processing a
lot of data using excel. I just wanted to tell you that my entire
life
revolves around standard deviation. Before taking physics lab I
had no
idea what standard deviation was. Error analysis is everyone's
favorite
complaint about lab, and it turns out to be the most important thing
that I
learned. You can quote me on that. I hope you are having a
good
summer.
Cheers!
E-mail dated 4/23/2003
from Leslie J Middleton milesl@email.unc.edu
Subject: thanks
duane,
thank you (again), for working with me. you've been extremely understanding, not to mention
helpful, this semester. i really do
appreciate it. it has helped me "stay in there." i wish i had
more professors like
you...
leslie
E-mail dated 5/22/02
from Mickey Jo Sorrell sorrell@email.unc.edu
Subject: Hi
I'm enjoying the class and your teaching. Where did you
learn to teach? After
far too many bad teachers, it is a pleasure to have a teacher who is
interested in the stuff of teaching.
Mickey Jo Sorrell
