Hoffman, Kenneth  

If you are a Engineering or Science major, this class will be a breeze. You don't even need to read the book. Very little studying. To tell you the truth, I wanted it to be harder. Hoffman uses a lot of demo's to help you visualize whats going no, which is great. But from what I overheard from somes girls in my class who were Lib. Arts majors, that the class was one of the hardest they ever had. Kind of funny.

I think Prof. Hoffman has lost his marbles. He is quite honestly one of the wierdest professors I have ever come across. Picture a guy who studies earthquakes and you have Hoffman. Really though, he is a good guy and a decent teacher. His tests aren't too difficult and you could obtain a B with minimal effort. This is the best class to fulfill the physical science GE if you dont need a lab. It is rather interesting and there is no reading. In fact, the book he tells you to buy "is better off left for toilet reading" as he would say. Besides his quirkiness, I would totally reccommend him because he really is a nice guy who is there to help the students.

Dr. Hoffman..haha, he is great. His sense of humor will keep you paying attention. He has defineately lost his marbles in a few earthquakes or two. Buy a huge binder, and plan for it to be full of handouts by the end of the quarter. His tests are easy if you pay attention in class, the book helps and is easy to follow as well. I would think you have to be somewhat interested in earthquakes to do well in this class. But overall, I really enjoyed it!!!

This is an good but hard professor. Hes very funny and wants to help the students. The grade is made up of up 2 midterms and a cumalative final and a couple quizzes. His tests are very very hard because there are multiple choice and fill in questions. The questions are very detailed. However, he curves the tests and class a lot. He gives out tons of packets and its really important to show up for his lectures because like 90% of the tests are from his lecture. He hardly uses the book. If you have a choice take GEOL 102 with Chipping or Garcia, but if you can't Hoffman's class isnt too hard.

I thought Professor Hoffman was a pretty good teacher. He's friendly, and is always willing to help when you have questions, or if you have difficulties. He's always asks if you have questions, and he's not boring. During recitation, he sometimes shows videos, and has activities. His tests are pretty hard, but if you pay attention in class, it should be fine. I don't think you need to read the book that much, but it's good to have an idea of what he's going through. Some of the questions come from things that you think won't be on the test, which is why I didn't do as well. He knows his stuff and teaches it well, so I would reccomend taking him.

so maybe this subject just wasn't my thing or something, i don't know. All i know, is that this class was really hard for me! I barely understood anything he went over and he made me feel stupid to ask questions to. I was so lost on some things, and in the end had to teach it to myself or learn a bunch of information that i have since then forgot because it is irrelevant.

I loved this class. I thought Dr. Hoffman was hilarious: "That's a tree, and that's me sitting under the tree, eating brie, with a Cal Poly hat on". One of the test questions was: "The 1906 great San Francisco earthquake occurred in what city?" The answer was in bold, underlined, and italicized. If anyone got that question wrong, they don't belong in this class. Okay, so he's a little off-center, but it's expected with a science teacher. Tests were a little tricky, with a mix of multiple choice, a few short answer (mostly with definitions) and fill-in-the-blanks. Take notes, consult the book for definitions or explanations (not necessary to read every chapter), and go to his office hours, especially before the cumulative final. Oh, and I'm a liberal arts major, so you know it can't be too bad.

Taking this instructor is like being in a Twilight Zone episode. You just can