Thum, David  

Thum was new at teaching this class and it sort of showed. He wasn't very good at helping students during the lectures who were having difficulty with the concepts and the book was pretty hard to learn from. On the plus side, he taught us how units cancel out and convert in problems, which made solving problems easier for the whole quarter.

This course is basically a Physics 100 class. Thum wasn't a very good instructor. He didn't convey the info very well, and he uses the "face the query" technique to get you to come to class (for a whoppin' 3 extra points). The tests were easy and it's a fairly easy class.

Thum did everything I like instructors to do. He taught us (he is EXTREMELY well organized). He gave a fair workload. He made it clear what we were required to know. He tested us fairly. He graded us fairly. It was pretty much basic physics and I would certainly take him for Statics too. BTW, 40% lab, 25% final, 20% midterm, 15% homework (1/3 of which was a group project).

I'd agree that 134 seemed like a high school physics class. The problem is that this made it difficult for those people who didn't take physics before. Really this class is just to scare anyone who doesn't belong in the Mechanical Engineering major. It rushes through everything from heat and energy to moments and fluids. The good thing about Thum was that he lets you use a page of notes on the tests. The bad thing is that your grade largely depends on the results of those tests. There is also a project which was actaully pretty good considering how projects normally go. Thum was on ok teacher, and more than anything, I think it was the way the course is designed that made it difficult for some people.

Great teacher considering the way the course is designed to skim over so much material. Homework grading was fair, and so was the amount of homework he assigned. Tests are fairly easy as long as you do all the problems he assigns, and look over the example problems in the book (he will test you on problems you have done, or have covered). He is helpful, considerate to students' needs and opinions, and a good teacher to take. I give him my reapect.

Professor Thum was a pretty laidback guy. The material is mostly basic physics, which anyone who's taking this class should have down pat already. The "Face the Query" attendance system was alright. If I remember right he just went alphaetically, s it was pretty easy to figure out when you could cut. There was homework due every lecture though, so attendance is recommended. The one gripe I had with Prof. Thum was significant digits. He wanted three sigdigs for every answer, but his definition of a sigfig seemed to vary from one day to the next. Show the equations to your work. right answers alone won't get you far. He tries to get you to structure your problem solving process, so he'll give you a format for the homework. Make sure you follow it. I'd take him again

Thum was the biggest joke of a professor at cal poly. This guy gets up infront of the blackboard and doesn't know what the hell he's doing. He's a great guy and all he's just not cut out to be a teacher. It's as if he is in his own little world, and he could care less if the class was following along or not when he was lecturing. His lectures are pretty much useless which is cool because I never attended. His tests were easy, he pretty much took homework problems, changed the given values of the problems and pasted them on the mid and final exams.

Professor Thum goes out of his way to help his students. He is helpful and available during office hours to explain homework and go over tests, he offers good advice about how to decide if mechanical engineering the right major for you, and he is helpful on a personal note. Professor Thum's intro to mechanical engineering class prepared me to succeed in my physics class and forced me to learn how to study and work hard outside of class. Keep up with the work and read the text, the example problems help with the homework a lot. There is a group project in the class that helped me to make connections with other mechanical engineering students while focusing on designing a desk. Although this class is harder than other engineering intro classes, the lessons you will learn if you work hard and keep a positive attitude are invaluable.

I ended up not doing most of the hw, which turned out to be almost 20% of the final grade--yikes! When I took this class, it was Thum's first time teaching it, so that was kinda bad... however, he was very organized, and his office hours are helpful to give criticism/feedback/hw solutions. He will not work through homework problems in class, so you must go to office hours. Overall, a decent professor, but there's better out there.

One of my best professors so far. He makes you do 12 problems a week but in some long ass format so each week you go through at least 20 sheets of paper. However if you do the hw, which takes about 2-3 hrs for every lecture you will think thum isn't teaching you anything at all, but thats what good profs do. Overall, very good prof. If you do all the hw the midterms and final will be easy

Professor Thum is a great teacher. The homework isn't too bad. It is 4 problems from concepts that were learned in class. It usually takes between 2-3 hours to complete, but in the end the homework really helps on the midterm and the final. Pr. Thum is very good in office hours and I suggest that you go to them if you are having problems because he is very willing to help you. Statics is not an easy class for most people, so the homework and go to office hours and the final and midterms aren't that hard.

I took ME 211 during Winter '02 of my freshman year. I signed up for a class taught by staff and it turned out to be Professor Thum. Very good professor. Is very easy to understand and follow. Helps you out a lot. He is very open to suggestion and is very very helpful during office hours. Homework is assigned every night, so you will always have hw to do. It is usually something like 5 - 6 problems. They are not that hard and they follow directly with what went on with lecture. There are about 3 midterms I believe and a common final. Each midterm is about 3 questions and the final is made of I think 6 problems from all the ME 211 professors. Thum's diagrams are very clear, his grading is very fair, and he is a great ME professor. Take him if you can. One thing that really helped me, probably more than anything else, was a 4 color ballpoint pen. You know the 4 in 1 color pens they sell in El Coral, that are half white and half light blue. It's like $2 but it helps so much when you are drawing forces on free body diagrams. I use it in everyone of my classes to take notes too.

Dr. Thum is a cool guy...statics is pretty boring at 9am regardless of who you take it with. He does a lot of examples on the board, which is good, and he involves the class as much as he can which really helps and carries over to homework. His tests are straightforward, all similar to homework problems. He's also good in office hours, I'd recommend him.

Thum, pronounced thoom, is a good professor, teaches you exactly what you need to know, nothing more nothing less. Take him if you have a chance, he has a good personality, though sometimes he seems as if he is in another dimension (my buddies and i concurred that he was stoned approximately 99% of the time we saw him). Good experience, grades fair and loooooooves to hand out partial credit on a platter.

Thum is a great guy. He explains the material in a very straightforward manner and interacts with the class very well. He grades all your tests VERY fairly and returns them on time. He even had our finals graded during finals week (that's 66 exams!!). I would highly recommend taking him. He's a mellow guy that like mentioned below, might be a little high during class. TAKE HIM.

Thum Rocks. His claim to fame is the crazy amount of partial credit he gives out on his tests, but he doesnt only do that. He curves the final grades. I had a solid B coming out and received an A in the class. I was stoked. 3 midterms at 20% each, 23 homeworks adding up to 10% of the grade, and the final was 30% of the grade. Midterms were fair, the homeworks were long and tough, and the final was just insanely difficult. Good luck!!!! Thum will get you through it, baby.

There was one time, during a review the class before a midterm, when someone asked to review a certain subject he was having problems with. Thum responded by saying he wasnt planning on reviewing that subject, so he didnt bring an example problem, so he cnat review it. Well, you know what, YOU TEACH THE SUBJECT. if someone asks for help, help them. make up an example problem. but that was the kind of teacher he was. he had a set lesson plan for every class of the quarter, and he could not stray from that plan, ever. this is not a good thing to do when students need help. he is pretty good at explaining the material, so it wasnt too bad, but some people did suffer from it. as for office hours, he originally put them at a horrible time when it was almost impossible to go, but he thankfully changed them becuase the students askled him too. but he wasnt even that helpful in his office hours when i could go. he is not the greatest professor, and even though you can do worse, you can probably do better for ME 211

Excellent Professor. Very helpful in office hours and goes over tons of examples in class. 60% of your grade comes from three midterms, 10% from homework, the final 30% for the final. Grades extremely fair, midterms aren't too bad if you study hard, and the final was slightly trickier than the midterms. He takes survey's at the end of every quarter to see how he can improve the class. He cares very much about his students and likes to see his students do well.