Srinivasan, Prashant  

Wow I actually can't believe that Prashant's rating is so low on here. Granted, I only had him for the lab portion of PHYS 122, but I would have been completely in the dark through the entire class if it weren't for Prashant's lab. He was so kind to all of us and made sure that we were not just doing the lab, but understanding the material as well. He gave a short, 45 minute lecture before each lab in which I learned more than I had in the entire week of lecture. He's very clear with presenting material and when you ask questions he helps you find the answer on your own. I thought Prashant was absolutely great.

His relative inexperience may show at times but he goes out of his way and makes an extra effort to respond to students' issues and concerns in the class. Very generous grader, as long as you show you that you have an idea about what you're solving. With his humorous "useless" daily stories as he calls them, his humility, and his easygoing, personable personality, I must admit that I had quite a pleasant experience in Physics 132 with Dr. S. Also, he'll give you an A if you can beat him in a half marathon, but don't even try because you'll find that he's fast as a cheetah!

I received a C- on my first mid term, because I recieved 0/30 points for a problem on a 100 point test. I couldn't see what I did wrong, so I asked and Srinivasan refused to show me how to do the problem correctly and told me he was not going to change my grade because he "doesn't change grades" before I even asked him if I could get some points back. So I asked my tutor, who agreed I did it right. Then I talked to a different physics professor, who also agreed I did it right. After this I tried to talk to Prof. Srinivasan a second time, and he finally did the problem in front of me, and he got the same answer, but still would not admit I did the problem correctly!! After this I was furious that I got a C- instead of the A I deserved, so I saw the physics department head who also agreed, I did the problem 100% correct. By then it was almost the end of the quarter and I decided to drop it in worry he would retaliate and unfairly grade my final. Srinivasan is hostile, unfair, and doesn't understand any student difficulties. He is not willing to admit when he has made a mistake even if it means wrongly penalizing the student. Prof. Srinivasan is the worst professor I have had so far. Also, he has you buy the textbook and workbook. The textbook problems do absolutely nothing towards your success in the class (I did all of them, didn't help at all) and We only did 9 problems total out of the entire workbook! Huge waste of money. He provides loads of practice problems and homework problems that are written by him that he recommends you do, but are not graded. I did all of them and they were a complete waste of time. The only problems on the quizzes and mid term are problems done in class, but with a weird twist that he thinks you should know if "you really understand the material". So basically you can work your ass off in this class and still do poorly on the mid term because he doesn't clarify what he wants you to study for. I managed to get an A- in the class, but I know quite a few kids withdrew from his class because he was so bad. Don't take this professor.

In my honest opinion, Prashant is a good teacher. His GRADING is decided on how well you can explain answers to a quiz and test. If you only answer in numbers, he will mark you down. Sometimes, he will give extra credit for perfectly explained and worked out answers. For instance, I was marked off 5 points on a test but received 2 EC points for a question that was answered, in his opinion, quite well. Also, for my class, he weighed the lower-scored midterm as 15/18% and the higher-scored midterm as 25%. The HOMEWORK for my class was exceptionally optional, but to do well in the class, it is highly recommended that the homework is done. He gives out problem sets that lay out stuff you need to know. I did better on my second midterm than my first, because I did more of the second set of problem sets!!! Hope this helps.

Very unmotivating teacher, he speaks at a rate of nearly 1 word per minute. He has very bad chalkmanship. Needs to stop creating unbearable noise by squeaking the chalk on the board. His polylearn is probably one of the worst I have seen, he doesn't post grades. If you go to his office hours every available time, do every single problem from every single problem set, you will probably get a B. He also hates, and I mean absolutely hates, using numbers in his problems, on quizzes and tests. They are 95% conceptual, which is very unhelpful considering this is Cal Poly, a "Learn by Doing" school. Also, he starts problems on the board, gets halfway through, doesn't finish, assuming we can figure out how to do the rest. Another issue is that Prashant is not transparent when it comes to midterms and exams. His exam problems are nothing like what are assigned on homework assignments, not to mention that he doesn't give answers for those problem sets. Honestly, you are able to get through this class with the bare minimum and still come out with a C. I hope you choose wisely.

Professor Srinivasan was a decent professor. Although he talks slowly and quietly, he goes through example problems very, very thoroughly because he is more interested in you understanding theoretical concepts vs. getting the right answer. We had 2 midterms, weekly homework assignments, random quizzes, weekly lab reports, plus the final. His grading on tests is a bit strange...each midterm only had 5-6 problems (with multiple parts) that were worth anywhere from 15-30 points. He doesn't really give a lot of partial credit and often, the grading is weighted differently for each part of the question. For a 3 part question, I got parts a and c right and part b part wrong and only got 5/30 points for that question. Required homework was only 1 question that was typically similar to an example he did in class, and he posts a bunch of optional practice problems on his PolyLearn(DO THESE IF YOU WANT TO DO WELL ON EXAMS). He also held study sessions on Saturday mornings before our midterms and our final. Overall, Srinivasan is a nice guy who obviously cares about his students, but he doesn't lecture on everything you need to know. However, know that he's very nice in office hours, and that you will need to do more studying on your own to do well in his class.

Prashant isn't a bad guy but he does a poor job outlining exactly what he wants from exams and assignments and provides absolutely no curve. Prashant does not know how to accurately assess a student's growth. I know I put forth much more than 70 percent effort and comprehended more than 70 percent of the material, so my final grade doesn't really make sense. I don't recommend taking this class if you are concerned with keeping your GPA up. If you want to hear interesting lectures for six hours a week then Prashant is your guy. This class mirrored the physics concepts I learned in high school and the class itself it was mostly theoretical and useless for my major. Just a side note, Prashant really thought I was an idiot for most (if not all) of the quarter. He asked me if I was crying or had cried almost every day which made me really uncomfortable. I thought that was very unprofessional and I would not take his class again because of it.

Prashant was definitely a cool guy. He always made coming to class worth it, in a sense. However, he lacked the skills necessary to understand student difficulties and he presented the material in a semi-confusing way. He would spend most of lecture on proofs, when you actually didn't need to know them, just the equations. His midterms were fairly difficult, however, he provides the answers afterwards on PolyLearn so you can review and prepare for the final. The final was much easier than any of the midterms. Even though I did not learn much in this class, I still managed to pass (I have no idea how). I failed both midterms and I still got a C- in the class. Prashant has the potential to be a GREAT professor, he just does not apply himself well. Also he is very unorganized and does not give most labs and quizzes back to you.

Midterms were difficulty especially because he makes you explain conceptually how to solve the problem and describe in sentences reasoning for your answer. I personally didn't like this but the Final was very easy especially if you do the problems he assigns on Poly-Learn. Also, my favorite part of Dr. S is NO FKN MASTERING PHYSICS!! I managed a B in the class somehow even though I failed the first midterm and got a D on the second midterm. The final was very easy and I'm pretty sure I got a high B or Low A and brought myself to an overall B in the class. The labs are tricky so I suggest you read them beforehand to thoroughly understand the procedure. Quizzes are extremely fair and are often taken from his notes and in class examples. **We also had a Physics Project that was worth 10% of our grade. Overall, class is very fair with Dr. S and he totally recommended.

Dr. S is seriously the worst physics professor. One each midterm, he marked at least 20 points off just because I didn't answer it his way. He took of ten points because I didn't explain that I was simplifying a fraction. He is seriously the worst teacher. Do not take him.

If enrolling, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. If you're stuck with him for a quarter, here's some tips: make sure you're on top of your game from day one and know what assignments are due, and when. He'll often only mention due dates once and sometimes not at all, so YOU are required to go up to him and ask. His lectures are quiet and involve a lot of writing on the board in silence, which made it hard for me to focus. A project is assigned and due at the end of the quarter..which was very high-school-esque and not practical, especially when all of his students are taking other rigorous classes. Sometimes three homeworks were due per week, usually at the same time as midterms. I did SO MUCH work for this class alone. In regards to exams, they are very straightforward and often directly from examples done in class or worksheet problems assigned. My quarter he had us do a lab portion with every exam which made many students go over the 2 hour limit EVERY TIME. Very unrealistic expectations for students & their commitments to the class

Let me start off by saying that I can't speak for how he was two, three years ago, but this past fall quarter he was a solid physics teacher in my opinion. At the beginning, I didn't think he was that great because his voice and style of lecturing bored me, and I found myself lost pretty often. His first midterm is really challenging, and I did not study nearly enough. After failing the first midterm, i began going to office hours every week and got to know him to be a great teacher and an even more hilarious guy. Warning: he will drop random jokes in the middle of lecture and they always crack up most of the class. The second midterm was a lot easier and I put a lot of effort into this class after that first midterm. I highly recommend going to office hours an discussing your goals with him throughout the quarter. He replaced our first midterm with the average of our first and second, which helped me bring my F to a B in this class. Take him! Phys 133 is challenging regardless of who you have, so be ready to put in the work!

PHYS 133 was the most stressful class I have ever taken my freshman year. The one I took happen to be a studio lab, which was newly implemented so he wasn't very organized about it. His disorganization was probably the reason why his class in particular is so hard to deal with. His PolyLearn is full of extra folders that you never get to and he changes up the name of the activities every time so you never really get a grasp of what he means by "pull up the ___ pdf" (literally you open up every single folder to find the thing he's talking about). His calendar says homework is due every Friday but he puts a different date on the actual pdf so it's confusing; he also puts the wrong dates so the only way you don't miss the due date is if you do it extra early. His online homework is the most poorly assigned; it asks for specific answers, has typos, and it doesn't even show you the solution after you miserably fail to answer the question (he doesn't go over it in class either). His imputed grades always have mistakes and even though you persistently asks, he never gets to fixing it until the really end (and by then it all accumulates and you don't even know your real grade). I admit his teaching intentions are good, but they are hard to accept because we all just want a good grade. He focuses a lot on derivation and understanding where the formula comes from and the math behind it. However, even if you follow along and study your ass off, you'll never know what he's looking for and will most like get points off. He doesn't have a midterm, but rather we have "weekly assessments", which are graded by different professors every time; then a final. This isn't necessarily his fault (it's how studio works) but his lectures don't prepare us enough to get the grades for it every time. TLDR he's an averagely funny guy, isn't super strict, but is highly disorganized. It's also how studio classes work; you basically have to tend to every professors' expectations on weekly assessments because a differently one grades it every single time. And dear God, hopefully we don't have a common final.

PRASHANT IS THE MAN. presents material clearly, homework is v helpful, and the tests are totally fair. The guy is more than willing to help out and is full of weird/funny anecdotes. I despised physics 1 and 2 with a burning passion, and surprisingly loved physics 3 although most people would say otherwise. 20/10 would recommend.

Overall, I thought that he was a very good professor. I had heard many times about how bad Cal Poly's physics department is and how there are only a few good physics teachers, so I was initially concerned. Along with that, Prashant had a very low rating (1.5 stars). I know to take these ratings with a grain of salt, so I went into the class a little worried, but open-minded about him as a professor. It turns out that I found him to be quite good at explaining concepts and getting you to be able to figure out problems by looking at what is going on in the physics instead of just figuring out which equation to use where. I took this class over the summer, so it was a bit rushed since we only had 5 weeks and overall fewer hours of instruction than you normally get in a full quarter. Despite this, I felt that I learned everything and got to really understand the concepts behind the algebra. He does grade based on how well you can explain concepts, but he is not unreasonable. Physics should not just be "plugging and chugging," in fact at this level that part should be the easiest part. He is right to test on conceptual understanding and explanation and he is right to expect to see more than just numbers in equations. He wants to make sure that the students do understand the underlying concepts. Maybe you do understand concepts, but do not write your thinking down or draw diagrams. Don't do that in this class, because at this level it is not a given that you understand all that. Draw pictures, write brief notes describing why you are doing things, and you will be fine. All in all, a great teacher. He tells a lot of bad physics/chemistry jokes and sometimes throws in a bit of dark humor, and I found both of these things entertaining. (Hint: Pay attention to his jokes because they may come in handy on his final...)

Ok, let me say that Phys 141 cannot be explained through CONCEPTS. This was his first time teaching 141 and he approached it the same way he did for 133 which in my opinion, is wrong. This guy LOVES to teach concepts rather than show examples of how kinematics/mechanics of physics really works. I've always struggled with kinematics, but excelled in torque/moments/rotational motion and thought maybe this guy would actually teach me kinematics. I was wrong. How do you learn kinematics conceptually? If I want to learn concepts, I'll read the book. His midterms and final was heavily based on concepts that it'll take more than 3 hours to complete. He curves based on the overall performance of the class and drops your lowest quiz. I would just avoid him at all cost if you go by the "learn by doing" motto. For him, you learn by reading.

This guys pretty funny. He talks kind of slow and is alright at explaining the material. He didn't give very much homework and there are 3 midterms and a final.

Dr. Prashant was one of the better physics professors I've had so far. Most of the homework was challenging but excellently prepared you for his midterms. Most of the homework problems were more difficult than the midterm problems. His philosophy of using mostly variables and conceptual processes prepared me well for future physics classes.

If physics doesn't come naturally to you and you need examples to understand concepts, DO NOT TAKE HIM. He thinks everyone understands physics at his level, offers no solutions to his homework because he makes them up himself, his exams are actually impossible, and he hates numbers, so every question was theoretical with only variables. Class was no help because he would talk about theory for 40 minutes, start a problem, and then never finish before class was over. The book couldn't help either because he didn't go by the book at all. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Homework is very hard, ask him for help on it in office hours, he will help you. Tests are much easier than homework. If you do well with conceptual learning you will do well with this professor. If you try to understand the coursework you will do well, if you try to memorize how to to the problems you wont. Prashant is a really cool guy and if you show him you are working hard he will help you out. He wont take no bitch'n or moaning sob stories. He really likes to see students interested and excited by the coursework, show interest and ask good questions and you will be just fine.

Dr. Srinivasan is a nice guy, but he's a terrible professor. He's decent in lecture (although he never answers questions fully and often would say "let's forget that" after spending 10 minutes on a problem), but he's truly awful at communicating with students. He blames you for not being able to fully comprehend the material right away. I attended office hours multiple times throughout the quarter, and every time he merely said to me, "you should read the notes more carefully." He was NOT helpful, I do not recommend him at all. I have taken physics before in high school, so I had some previous knowledge of the material he covered, but his exams and quizzes always involved questions that were ambiguous, we barely covered, or far harder than anything we covered in lecture. I know the physics department is not the best here, but DO NOT take this professor.

The only thing I learned from this class is to trust poly ratings. Srinivasan in simplest terms is, terrible. Everything he taught was conceptual and had no examples. That did not match his home work or his midterms. He never allowed time for questions and if you went to office hours he wouldn't help. He expects you to have a background in AP physics or mechanics before taking this class. I had study session and even paid for a tutor and I still had no idea what was going on. He's a nice man with a few jokes up his sleeve but avoid having him as an instructor.

I do not recommend taking Dr. S for Physics 1. He hands out hard problems and never posts the answers. Almost everyone failed the midterm because he doesn't go over examples in class. The highest grade I heard was a 66%. He threw in things we've never even talked about.

Ok so I know we don't have a fantastic Physics department. But wow this class was ridiculous. I had a pretty good understanding of Kinematics coming in and after the first few classes it felt like an easy A. Then we took our first midterm and I got a 58. The midterm did not reflect what we had covered and had this problem that even now looking back I would not know how to do. This professor did not hand back anything in a timely manner and we never got answer sheets to any problem set. He also never finished problems on the board. The problem with the class wasn't so much that the concepts were tricky, but more that we had no idea what to expect on any test. Homework was graded ridiculously harshly. He said he would curve the tests but I suspect he just tabbed 5% onto the ends of our grades at the end of the quarter. I managed to come out with a B but honestly it could have been any grade, the tests were so unpredictable. Would not recommend.

I wouldn't recommend this professor to anyone. He doesn't explain course material well at all. Every problem is done theoretically without any numbers or any givens. Each midterm takes three hours which is done outside of class time which is uncalled for. Office hours are unhelpful if he even shows up on time. Never gives solutions to any problems in class.

Dr. Prashant is really bad at providing thorough examples in class. His notes are mainly on the concept and the concept only. If he does go over example problems in class it will not have any numbers in it and he will get to just before the hardest part and say "It should all be pretty simple/self-explanatory from here", which it isn't! His exams are really difficult (very few people passed) and will sometimes cover material that won't show up in lecture until the day/week after the exam. He also grades a lot on formatting/neatness of work. A friend who took the class with me got the correct answer on a midterm problem but because his work was not perfectly laid out the way he wanted, he received a 2 out of 8 on that question. Most questions on the midterms/quizzes/final will be completely new, will not contain any numbers, and will have several substeps that are not related to each other at all (i.e. A 7 question midterm is more like a 30 question midterm).

Dr. S was a decent teacher with a few annoying qualities (such as not grading/handing back quizzes and homework before you are tested on the material), but the big thing I want to give a heads up on is that he can be construed as creepy towards the girls in the class. Many of my peers also experienced this and felt uncomfortable enough by his actions to not go into office hours when they needed help... just something to be wary of that if you are a girl and prefer to have a professor that doesn't awkwardly touch your back.....