O'Connor, Erin  

Why are you guys grading O'Connor so low? I had him over in Allan Hancock College way back when. I think he was the head Physics Prof there. Unless he has completely changed his teaching style, he has a very easy personality, gives easy point quizzes, and tests for basic concept apprehension (Doesn't try to trick students with his exams).

This professor seems really cool at the beginning of the quarter. He makes all these jokes that you think are inventive and new. But as the quarter continues, the same jokes over and over, "oooh that's expensive" whenever someone drops a calculator gets redundant. I remember the class was talking and he says, "yooohooo!" to get everyone's atttention, I almost wet my pance like the kindegarten kid he was "yoohoo"ing to. Now for his teaching ways. Let me say before I took this class I already got a 4 on the AP Physics B test in highschool. After every lecture, instead of getting a better understanding of what I already knew, I became more confused. I remember looking around me and everyone else is more confused(a good thing right?)I've never seen a professor explain the problem wrong everytime when he has the answer sheet right next to him. "Oops, glad you caught that one." "Hehe, just checking if you're paying attention" "I thought you'd guys would be more familiar with it if we did it this way." The most excuses I've ever heard in a single day. So after I learn it the wrong way, I have to unlearn it, and learn it again. But when he gets it wrong the second time, I have to unlearn it then relearn it, and it all turns to mumbo jumbo. The homework system is online and you can't get partial credit, isn't physics all about getting most of the problem right and getting most of the credit? Well not here, the answer is everything. And even though he knows the answer is everything, he refuses to finish any homework problem on the board. He does it a little over half way to "get the machine going". This machine is our mind, and it is out of fuel. If this were an evaluation of him as a person, he's a great guy. Nerdy and nice and funny and just a doggonit good person. But he can't teach. It seems he comes to class unprepared with how he will explain things. The average in my class for tests was below 50%. The quiz before every class helps your grade because most of the time the lowest he says you can get is a 3/5, which is still higher than the 50% you got on the test. I got an A in the class because I already knew everything, but after finishing this class, my understanding is a bit hampered. Although I know more than when I started, my foundation is not as solid as it used to be. If you take this class, you'll need to make office hours with him, and use examples in the book to do your homework problems. I suggest finding the smart person in your class and trying to leran off them, I guarantee you they can explain it better. If Professor O'Connor reads this, and I have to give some positive feedback, I'd tell him he needs to practice his lectures at home in the mirror on a chalk board so he gets it right in class. I'm not sure if grades on a curve, but since the whole class is around a 76%, I'm sure he'll pass most of everyone. So if you get this teacher or decide to take him, he is a nice guy and will help you when you come up to him, but it is hard to get anything from the lectures. By the way, did I mention that every test each student gets has different numbers than the person next to him or her. Forget cheating, it's impossible. Good luck!

O'Conner is a fricken deusch-bag whore. He doesn't know what he is actually teaching, maybe it's physics maybe it's bull.... Don't take his class no matter what you do!!!!! It's not worth anyones time!!!! The students correct O'Conner in his lectures more than he corrects himself. I took physics in high school and learned more than this monkey ass whore taught. He is a really nice guy, but doesn't teach what he puts on the homework or test, he expects you to learn it ALL on your own. Good luck if you get stuck with this jerk-off.

O'Connor is a really nice and chill guy. When I first walked into class, I felt confident that I would do good in his class because he made everything sound really easy. He told us that he had a homework system that we could work with other students on, that he didn't take role, and that he curves everything in his class. Well, all that, I found out, was true, but there are tons of other stuff he forgot to mention...like hmm, great, the homeworks are all really easy to do with study groups and stuff, but hey, you don't get any partial credit! Really, my friends and I would spend 4 hours trying to do all the homework for his class, only to find out that when we typed the answer into the computer, they were wrong. And not only were they wrong, we lost points for it. So we'd spend another 4 hours trying to redo them and seeing what happened, then we'd type them in again, and realize, hey, they were wrong again. Then role...yeah, he never took it, but guess what? There are quizzes every day in class! So, really, you have to go to every class. And even if you do go to class for a quiz, guess what, it's on material that you haven't learned yet! And his lectures...can I even call it a lecture? He is seriously handicapped in teaching or something, because I actually think that knew more about physics in the beginning of the quarter than I do now.

O'Connor isn't a bad teacher. He's a super nice guy and totally easy going. He does make mistakes, but they aren't frequent, and if he totally messes up a problem, he'll send out an email and/or put up a message on the homework system. Speaking of which, the online homework actually isn't too bad. You print it out and do the problems (which only got sort of hard at the end), and if you can't figure one out, you bring it to class and he'll explain how to do it. The negative credit only hurts you if it gets to that point. If you can't figure a problem out, don't keep trying random answers; just bring it to class and he'll explain it. Overall, he's a good guy. I haven't had any other physics classes yet, so I can't compare him to anyone else here at Poly, but I would take him again.

To sum it up, if you work and study hard, you can get an A in this class. I worked hard and thought I understood the material before I came into the class, but I ended up not knowing it. I studied for hours for the final and ended up realizing that only 25% of the material on the final was information of which resembled what I studied. He was a ok instructor but would often make errors in doing the examples and we would tell him about it. Plus, when we would ask a question that would have something to do with the example he was doing (usually changing the value of something), he would usually say "Oh it won't matter, you will get the same answer" and never actually prove it. Not until later did he explain the material of which got confusing. The grading was ok. The homework was good because it was online and you got instant results. The negative to that was several times I remember putting in the wrong answer into the question before it or after it. I would tell him about that and he would respond with "oh, it really won't matter. If your grade is borderline at the end of the quarter, I will take this into account." As to if he did, I have no clue. His tests were ok only that I did shitty on the tests but when I took the restest, online, I got A's both times. Just wish he would let you take that grade instead of getting "partial points" added to your previous exam. He was a laid back prof and there is no way anyone can fail the class unless they really tried. Just be prepared to learn the material you don't understand by yourself. If you want for sure to pass the class, take O'Connor. But if you REALLY want to understand the material, I would think about taking someone else.

Ok, yes, I got an A in OConnor's class; however, I don't think that it was at all reflective of his teaching skills. OConnor spends 90% of the class going over the online homework which is the biggest pain in the butt in the world. The online homework that he assigns takes hours and hours, and was seriously the worst part of my week. He does not teach concepts at all, and has quizes every day in class which means you can never miss a single class... His tests are multiple choice, you may think that sounds like a good thing, but everyone always does really badly on them. The only reason why I got an A in this class is because, before the tests, I would memorize each and every hw problem from the retarded online hw that he had ever assigned because the test problems were very similar. Please don't take him unless you want to get stomach ulcers from the stress and frusteration involved in the online hw system.

Erin Oconnor seems like a nice person outside of class. However his teaching ability sucks. It seemed like from the first meeting in the quarter that we were going to have a nice understanding of Physics. Thanks to Oconnor, I did't learn a thing. Its a shame because physics is a really interesting topic. I've always wanted to learn about it. Thanks to him, he shattered my experience. He would have a quiz everyday which meant I had to be in class everyday even when I felt under the weather. He never knew my name even though I have come to him repeatedly for help. Students in my class also had this same problem. When I would try to catch him on his office hours, he would just be surfing the web and would say "well I'll talk to you in class". Then he would forget and I would be assed out. I was surprised when I got an A. Overall he seems like he knows physics. On the otherhand he seems like he doesn't care about the students. He's called me by different names on seperate ocassions.

FUCK O'CONNOR

O'Connor is pretty easy to deal with. His tests are just like his homework. There is no way to screw up passing his class all you have to do is do the homework and you can pass this class. yes he goes off on tangents about his trips to many places, however he's very entertaining. I have this other idiot by the name of Jorstad for physics now and he's a dumb ass...I'd rather have O'conner than this other idiot....oh yeah...his quizzes are also a piece of cake...dont fret...its not as bad as it sounds.

GREAT lab teacher. Really laid back. Very helpful when you've got problems, doesn't bother you when you don't.

I took him for Physics 132 and took him again for Physics 133. I think he is an excellent teacher. He tends to get a little caught up, but he will always make sure there is enough time for homework and questions we have. He has this online homework system which I really like. We have homework due every week that we access online. We submit our answers online also and it will tell you instantly if it was correct. He will even give some of his tests online. You can post comments, look at your grades, see how other people are doing on the homework, and all sorts of neat things through the homework system. You can work on the homework with friends because the only difference is your friends homework is numbers. He did give the class one incredibly hard test, but he curved the test significantly and gave us an easy retest. He wants us to do well and it shows. He has endless real life examples that are pretty intriguing. Most of the time, he will round your grade up in the end. I recommend this teacher if you plan on doing the homework. Doing the homework was very important and it made the class much easier.

Ha ha, I pity all those who take this class. First of all, he has an online homework system. This sounds like a cool idea. Many question are multiple choice, and the rest are fill in the blank. Now the bad parts. No partial credit. Period. You dont get the answer, sucks to be you. Next: negative credit. That is right, not only do you get no points for partial credit, you can actually get less than 0 for a homework. This is compounded with other idiocy. The homework (after week one) is INSANELY HARD. There were some weeks with over 50 questions. We are talking a 4 hour time investment. Several of the question are actually MESSED UP ON THE COMPUTER. That's right, no correct answer (negative credit anyone?). His solution: "I don't think it will be a problem. If you think that this will affect your grade at the end of the quarter, come to my office during finals week." - O'Conner. Right. Document all the computer errors, and talk to him during finals week. Do I need to continue? Yes I do. Here is a breakdown of class (1 1/2 hours): First hour, quiz. Second half hour, homework. He gives a quiz at the beginning of every class. This is not, as you would expect, on what you learned in the previous class, but rather on what you will be learning that day. That's right, you get the quiz on what he will be teaching after the quiz. The quiz is supposed to be a half hour, but after no one figures it out, he allows you to make it a group quiz, so you can be confused together. 15 minutes later, he collects them, and explains how to do it. This 15 minutes is the lecture. Afterwards, he asks for homework questions. He never actually answers them, he stops about 2 steps from the end, so you cannot actually figure them out, but they are useful for hints. I think twice during the quarter he skipped the quiz, and those were the only times he did something remotely close to lecturing. Now onto tests. The first test was nice, because it was online, like the homework. Everyone got 95%+, because everyone cheated their ass off. The next midterm was in class. When we got there, we found out it was similar to the previous midterm, but printed out (it was literally a printed out web test). He actually gave negative credit on the midterm. Our class did so bad, he would not tell us what the class average was. I know it was below 50%. So, in summation (this f*&#ing teacher needs a summation on his review!) the homework is hard, he never actually lectures, he tests you before he teaches you, and he is the spawn of Satan. Switch majors before taking him.

This is an excellent professor. I have never had such a clear and well-taught Physics course. The online homework system was a real plus; you get your work graded instantly and you get multiple tries to submit an answer. Bravo Professor O'Connor!

A very good professor.

Mr. O'Connor could do a better job of teaching and helping out on h/w. is a good person, but you just have to bug him. Bug him to help you, if he won't. The h/w is not that bad, you just have to read the material and study by yourself most of the time, which is what your suppose to do, but it would help a lot if O'Connor would teach, and not go off on tangents. Sometimes it seems like he just wants to show off on what he knows and thats why he mostly doesn't teach. But he prepared me for those unexpected test questions. Good teacher but him about it and try to get on track. ASK TO EXPLAIN CONCEPTS.

This is the first C I have recieved in my entire life. I hope that says something to all of you out there watching their GPA. Do not take him--this class was a nightmare!