Knight, Randy  

Pretty dry lecturer, but the class is easy especially if you actually do the readings/show up to class. It was curved an insane amount too. My biggest advice for this class is don't be an idiot. This class is an easy A if you actually do the reading/ have decent reading comprehension. You have to write a 2 page essay on the topic of "What I learned about Weather in CA this quarter" you have a homework assignment for each ch that is online, a few quizzes, a midterm and a final. Also he wrote the big physics textbook they use here for the 120 series so that's cool, I didn't figure that out till the day I took the final.

I enjoyed meteorology a lot and found the material to be quite interesting. It's cool to be able to explain why certain weather events are happening. Then again, I've always had a weird fascination with weather. There is a lot of material covered in the class, but as long as you go to class most of the time and keep up with the reading, you should be fine. There are two quizzes, a midterm, a final, (easy) online homework assignments that go along with the book, and a short essay. I studied for the midterm and final by doing all the online review activities that come with the book, and those seemed to help a lot. The lectures usually go by pretty fast, so while not necessary, it's definitely helpful to do the reading before class so you have a better understanding about what's being talked about. My suggestion is to take frequent breaks when you do the reading so that you don't have to absorb all the material at once. The class is curved a decent amount too. Overall, not a bad choice for a B3 or science elective. Definitely better than some other options.

Knight is a pretty boring teacher. reads slides and thats it. he is passionate but the tests were hard and the material was boring. id try to avoid it!! my only C!

Knight is a pretty easy teacher if you prepare yourself appropriately. An 80% is an A, and he has just two short midterms and a final. Take note when he says this is an exam like problem, because he will put those exact problems on his tests!! Also, watch out Phys 118 students because he will make you buy HIS book, a clicker, a mastering physics account, and a solutions manual (ALL MANDTORY!) when the rest of your series (Phys 122 and 123) will use a different book and no clicker, etc. Minus Knight making this a $215 class and a $315 series, Knight is a good straight forward teacher.

Does a lot of in-class demonstrations, which makes recall easier on tests. Very clear presentation of material and if you practice the problems at the end of the chapters, you will do well on tests. One of the best professors I have had yet.

This was the hardest class I have ever taken. He knows it, yet doesnt cut you any slack at all. He's too smart for your own good. Try to avoid him if you can.

I really enjoyed having physics with Dr. Knight. He makes you do sample problems during class, which makes you stay awake and realize whether or not you really know what he's talking about. This is also a good way to get to know your class mates, and gives you more people to study with. The only down side was that there was only one mid term, and I think there should have been more. If you don't like being put on the spot, don't take his lab because he asks you questions instead of having you write down answers.

Knight is good at explaining and teaching, but don't get excited when he tells you you get an extra ten points on your test and fifteen minuts to take it... caz you'll need the points and his tests take everyone the whole period and more. Hard tests, easy homeworks, but lot's of problems... and that's about it.

Unarguably the BEST teacher I have had yet in the area of science. He always came to class prepared with incredibly interesting visuals that really make you wonder about the world and want to stick around for the rest of lecture. He is VERY passionate about his work and really wants to help you understand. I found he went out of his way to help explain stuff when it got confusing. Best of all the work load and tests were right on. They make you think and learn, but I was in no way overwrought with mundane calculations and pointless questions.

I would no recomend Dr. Knight. Especially when taking a class that requires you to use a book that he has written. The book is as poorly written as his lectures are boring. He is a finiky man with his questions and if you question him at all he will dismiss you as not worthy of his time by not completely ignoring you r questions. For this class he also made us read his entire book. Quizes practically every other day. Do not take him period.

I once asked this guy "How can tension differ from one side of a string or rope to another?" and he responded "Hmm.. good question." and walked away. he always gives half-assed responses to your questions. I get really frusturated, drowning in a sea of homework. I'm doing ok in the class right now (i have a B) but if you take him you will work WAAAY harder then you should have to for your 4 units.

Overall Knight is a decent teacher. But gives tons of homework and many quizzes. If you get behind you are screwed. He is extremely uptight about THE WAY he does physics, so don't bother asking questions because he will either make fun of you or give you an answer about something totally different than your question.

in class he has people do practice problems, the only problem is that he never tells you if you got them right or not. Also when you do these problems he just circles the room looking for people to make mistakes so that he can belittle them for not knowing what they're doing. He never encourages anyone, and seems to be disappointed if you get the questions right. I did a problem correctly almost to the end where I had a decimal error. When he looked over my answer he seemed disappointed until finally, I swear there was a glow in his face, he found my error. He's only out to prove that he's better than his students. DO NOT TAKE HIM.

do not take any type of STUDIO PHYSICS!!! if you take it, then be prepared of the analness of the course. Studio physics has the lab included in the 2 hours of class and the experiments are all done on the computer, there is no real trial and error, so if u want hands on experiments, then forget about studio! it SUCKS! take regular physics if possible, and avoid Dr. Knight. He is the most incomptent teacher for physics. The book he wrote makes as much sense as his so called lectures. My highschool physics book covers the material so much throughly. I really liked physics back in highschool, but Dr. Knight juz ruined it for me. I knew everything that was being taught in the class, but just because I couldn't diagram the way HE wanted it done, I would get atleast half off on all my problems on my Midterms and Final. My grades on the homework was the only thing that kept me from failing the class. His in class problems are only used so that he doesn't have to talk (he has a very bad stuttering problem) he walks around the class room looking for mistakes and pointing them out to the whole class, deliberately picking on students that he knows got the wrong answer, then preceeding to another group that does, so as to make the students that didnt' know the answer feel embrassed. he is a horrible teacher, DON't TAKE HIM FOR ANY CLASS!

Its not even halfway through the quarter and I already hate this class and this guy. Poor teaching quality, does not convey the material. If you think, "Ah fuck the class i'll learn from the book." You are wrong, he wrote the book...literally. The online mastering physics is a pain in the ass in which you get screwed out of points because "w" will not work for omega (they look similar). The worst part about it, i love physics. I applied and got into other schools as a physics major! His homework assignments are excessively long, and the book does a halfass job of covering the material.

This class was a pain in the ass. I would have preferred to study from the book (he wrote it, so it's like the lecture, only you can put it in your backpack). I was planning on going only for the midterms, since I got a 5 on AP physics B. However, there were several flaws in my plan. First, he uses everything that comes with the book. First, for any given chapter, there is the assignment out of the workbook, which is due the day lecture for that chapter starts. The workbook assignment is easy enough, but basically useless. The homework(ahh, semantics...) is online, and it SUCKS. You have five tries to get the answer right, every try after the first is a 10% hit. Many apologists for the Mastering Physics site will say that it can figure out what you're trying to do, and give you hints. This is technically correct, but the hints are usually something stupid like "you've made an error in rounding" How? i'm doing this entirely on a calculator, which means i'm using ELEVEN significant digits! Add on that the online assignments take forever, and are extremely aggravating. The thing i hated the most about the class was that he didn't keep to the syllabus. i showed up to turn in the workbook assignment one day to find that there had been a pop quiz, which was obviously not on the syllabus. I put forth minimal effort and got a B, so I can't really complain.

If you want to complain about online homework, and midterms that have nothing to do with the homework or lectures ALL QUARTER LONG then take the class. This teacher is ridiculous and he is the most ennoying lecturer ever. Every time I hear him talk I just want to slap him in the face. Have fun reading the book that he wrote, don't forget to know every little detail in it too!

although he has his homework on mastering physics (and that will take some time to get used to) the problems he assigns are directly out of the book with changed numbers, and the problems on tests are very similar. If you get the work done on time and and take the time to understand it, this class shouldn't be a problem. You can use a notcard front and back for each test, and in his grading, 100-80% is an A, and as low as 55% I believe is a C. Bottom line, he knows what he's talking about, and if you put some time into the class, you can easily get a good grade.

Not a bad teacher, was better than what i would expect from a guy that wrote the book, 80% is a A, so theres no way no to atleast pass the class

Professor Knight is a smart guy, and he knows it. His lectures were extremely conceptual, with only a few example problems involving math equations and such thrown in once in a while. Two midterms (no notes allowed, only an equation sheet that he provides), with quizzes every week is what you have to look forward to as well as around roughly 4-5 hours of homework EVERY week. The homework he assigned us involved homework you had to do on the internet, as well as a packet in which you have to read the chapters in the book to complete. However his grading style is where he cuts you some slack, with a built in grading curve of 80% or above receives an A, 70-80% is a B, and 55-70% is a C, which is awesome. In other words, if you do his homework and take his quizzes, you are guaranteed a major part of your grade already. Myself for example, got a D on the first midterm and an A on the second, did slightly above average on the homeworks, and with all that it put me in a position where I COULD HAVE NOT EVEN SHOWN UP FOR THE FINAL, and gotten a C in the class. I ended up with a B- in the class, and as a final note I'll tell you that in my opinion, his final was the HARDEST FINAL I have ever taken here at Poly. Take Knight if you would like to put in time for homework and studying to guarantee yourself a passing grade.

Dr. Knight is an exemplary undergrad professor. If I had only taken his class seriously, I could have learned a lot. It's as if he studies the learning process as much as he studies physics. His class is a lot of work, but you will learn and master the concepts. The tests are difficult and some questions are out of nowhere, but they're not impossible. He really doesn't deserve the bad rap that he has--honest.

God I hate freshman.

Okay, so he's not the best teacher in the world, but his set curve is awesome. I got a 68% and survived...wow.... So glad too. I never want to take that class again. He's sooo weird. The way he pops his hip to the side when he stands and the way he pronounces certain words. Yuck.

TOOL.

Dr. Knight does not deserve the bad rap he gets here. Granted, my class was not as difficult as some, but Dr. Knight always came to class prepared, he knew what he was talking about, he ansered questions to the best of his ability, and he was not too bad to listen to for an hour and a half. Oceanography has been easy so far and i don't expect ti to get worse. Just go to class and take notes and you'll do fine.

Dr. Knight is probably the worst prof. i've had at cal poly. He shouldn't be teaching an easy course like oceanography and be such an asshole as far as grading goes. His lectures are boring as hell and everytime i wanted tor rip my hair out of my head. I wouldn't recommend him to anyone. Oh and if your a girl he won't like you.

Do not take any class with professor Randy Knight. He is terrible, stutters uncontrollably, has the most boring lectures imaginable, and grades unbelievably hard. For such a joke class like oceanography he is unbelievable. His test and quizzes are composed of many short answers which are completely impossible to get full credit on. There is no way you could slightly bull shit an answer and get by. You need to know tons of minute facts and statistics about the physical ocean. ridiculous. I would not recommend. Avoid this class if at all possible!

Honestly, Knight seems like a really nice guy in the beginning of the quarter. But he is the most unfair grader I have EVER encountered. You have so much to study for each quiz and test and you think you got all of the answers right but if you phrase a short answer in a slightly "wrong" way he won't give you credit. All students confront him about his grading and he always just tells you you're wrong. I've never been so frustrated with a teacher, a class like this shouldn't be so hard. DON'T take this class. Such bullshit.

I would say to avoid this proffesor like he is the plague. He gives large homework assignments where he will only grade an unknown 3 or 4 of 20 problems you worked on. He gave one midterm and 1 final not leaving much room for recovery. Dr. Knights lectures give little if any info about what he tests on. You often will leave class wondering "What the hell is he talking about?" or maybe "What does that have to do with the homework?". The absolute worst thing about Dr. Knight is he does not go over the test or homework in class at all. When you ask a question on the homework he will say to get the solution off the web or give a half response. His office hours do help though if you have 5 hours extra a week to go there and understand the material.

Dr. Knight is extremely hard to get used to, first of all. He stutters a lot, and then he talks really fast when he can get the words out. For the first few weeks, you will feel like he is trying to teach you all of what is in the book he wrote, and everything that is wrong with the book the class really uses. You will be lost on a lot of the homework, since he assigns about 20 problems a week and only half of them are covered well in class or in the book. HOWEVER: after you get used to his style he is a wonderful teacher. You will forget the stuttering, you will learn what it is he is really asking for when he asks the class a question, and once you realize that he does cover all the really important issues in the material, if not all the details, you will begin to enjoy his class. He is very helpful in office hours, although it may take you a while to make him understand just what your question is. He sometimes comes off as condescending, but really he is just making sure that he is not moving too fast or jumping through something you don't understand. I would highly recommend Dr. Knight; just remember, it is not an easy subject or class so be prepared to work!

I have mixed feelings about this guy. I found his lectures to be very good in general. He taught concepts more than math and his test questions were often paragraph explanations of concepts. He had us use a supplemental reading from a book he wrote for some of his class and I really enjoyed it...it was MUCH MUCH better than the Modern Physics text we were using (his treatment of quantum mechanics was *excellent*). His tests were on the easy side but good luck getting good grades on them. What everyone above has said is true...he's out to show you are wrong. You may explain an answer correctly but because you didn't put in a certain concept you don't get even half credit...so basically he's a great *teacher* but a harsh professor. As a note, do not skip any of his classes (why I got a C). He doesn't take attendance or anything, but if you get behind in his class you are in for some hurt. By the way, I didn't notice any stuttering. I recommend taking Knight but be prepared.

Dr. Knight's classes are guaranteed work. You will take 3-4 pages of notes a day, you will have about 15 hours of homework per week, and you will learn things about the subject that your text book writer probably didn't know. He loves his tangents, and they never have hurt the class. I found his class interesting and it was worth showing up in the morning from 8-9:30. Just be warned that his exams are infamous - you will screw up something and it will cost you. He has a built-in curve though so an 85%+ is an A, 75%+ is a B, etc. Basically if you work your ass off, you will get at least a C. He doesn't penalize you for trying, and the way his system works if thats what you are honestly doing you won't get shafted. His homework is a huge part of your final grade, so don't shrug it off. It is worth more than the midterm. Finally, he loves Lasers and ElecroOptics so if you have anything to ask about that stuff he is the guy to go to.

He works you very hard, expecting you to learn everything he talks about in class and teach yourself everything else from the book. expect 12 or more hours per week on hmwk and studying. He does not help at all in office hours and will sit and watch you incorrectly work a problem and not say anything to stop you or show you your mistake. If he doesn't like you, he cuts you no slack whatsoever and grades your work harder.

I was terrified to take two classes with Randall Knight this year, and from what I heard from other Physics majors, everyone was as well. With his awful rating on Poly ratings we assumed he was a bitter man who hated teaching. However, after the class everyone was saying "why did everyone say he was a bad teacher?" He was one of the best teachers I ever had, seriously. He is very straight forward, clear about what he expects, the homework is moderately difficult, but nothing that you can't do, and he is very good at explaining material in class. The tests were tricky, but he curved them, and I got a B+ in the class without over working. I highly reccomend Dr.Knight as a teacher.

So far as presenting material clearly goes and trying hard to clarify difficulties, he did very well. In his lectures he consistently tried to keep everybody involved by putting questions on the overhead, asking for responses and then clarifying if there was any confusion. In addition, he went out of his way to give hints on confusing hw problems, or simply remove them from the assignments. Even though the exams were hard, if you knew the material you could do well enough.

this guy is challenging, but he is a very good lecturer. He has a great master of the material, but he wont just give you the answer during office hours. His tests are very challeging, so must have been very prepared going in.

Dr. Knight, Yea He'll make a man out of you, Take him if your not scared of a challenge. That's half the fun.

This class is The Physics of Energy. I believe that it is only taugt every 1 or 2 of years and that Knight is usually the teacher. Therefore, a review of Knight is partly a review of the class. I loved this class because I am really into energy. This is some of what is covered- how power plants work, alternative forms of energy, energy efficiency etc. We had a cool field trip to the Morro Bay power plant too. Knight is usually very enthusiastic about teaching the class, although he has an occasional bad day. My only major complaint is the four essays that we had to write (topics- fossil fuels, alternative energy, conservation, nuclear). They had to be 4 pages long, not too bad except this was single spaced and 10 point Times font. It was really more like 8 pages. The topic has to be very specific as well, and it can be hard to find enough information. Other than that, this class was great. You don't have to be great at physics either. Basically you just need to know about the principles of heat, power, work and voltage. You do a lot of calculations in this class. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone interested in energy.

here's an email i received from Prof Knight:<br><br> The midterm average was 39%. On the 3 interference problems, which formed the heart of the exam, the average was 28%. A rough grade breakdown is 2 Cs, 6 Ds, and 23 Fs. Consequently: Starting Monday, Nov 20, class attendence is mandatory. I will be taking roll at 8:10 sharp every morning. I will apply grade penalties for every class missed or late. Starting Tuesday, Nov 21 and lasting at least through the week after thanksgiving, there will will a qraded quiz at 8:10 every morning. Points earned on quizzes will be added to your midterm score through some scheme I've yet to devise. Starting Monday, Nov 20, there will be graded in-class group activities on most days. Please bring your textbook and a calculator every day. Further discussion of this rather significant change of plans on Monday. Randy Knight <br><br>need i say more?

horrible at teaching. midterms were extremely different than any homework problems assigned. he expects you to read everything in the book and therefore doesn't teach you everything you need to know. i will never take him again. definitely recommend avoiding him.

One of my favorite teachers at Poly. He'll work you like a dog, but the tests are fair and very similar to the HW and class examples despite what others have said. If you're serious about learning and *really* understanding the material this is the guy to take. If you're the kind of person that does a half-ass job on HW the night before it's due and then whines that you got a 30% on the midterm, take someone else.

You could learn a lot about this class about sustainability…if you care. Basically just a BS GE that you have to sit through. All papers are singles spaced and you have one 1 pager, two 2 pagers, and a 10-12 page group paper/presentation. Midterm and final are 50 multiple choice, 8-10 short answer, and 1 page essay. The activity section is a complete waste of everyone’s life. If you just go to class and pay attention and write some quality papers it should be an easy A.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.