Ryan, Walter  

Walter presents the material extremely well and is very eager to help if you need help. Overall, he is a very nice/effective instructor. Would take another class with this man.

Dr. Ryan is a very knowledgable physics professor. He puts all the lecture slides on polylearn so you can print them out if you like for class. If you print them out, it will save you a lot of time jotting down the notes in class and allows you to pay more attention to him. He is very helpful during office hours. Whenever I was stuck on a homework problem or did not understand a concept, I would go to him and he would explain it very clearly. He is there to help you so do not be afraid to go to him for office hours. He has 1 homework assignment due every Monday along with a quiz. The quizzes are very straight forward and you can get A's on it if you understand the concept. His quizzes are concept based and requires you to do math on a few problems. For all quizzes and exams, he will provide you with the equations so you do not have to memorize them. His midterms are a little bit challenging but should not be a problem if you work on the homework problems because they are very similar. His midterms are not cumulative but his final is. The final is cumulative in the sense that you will have to apply what you learned from previous chapters to get to the final answer. I would recommend Dr. Ryan!

Great professor! definitely recommend him to everyone. But personally it didn't work well for me. Although he is a great professor and teaches very well, I didn't like his grading... also his handwriting is terrible.

Dr. Walter is the absolute best!!! He is hands down the best professor I've had at Cal Poly! He teaches super well, all his notes are online so you can print it out and follow through during class. He makes sure the entire class understand. Makes difficult concepts easy to understand. All his tests are very fair. He is super helpful during office hours. He makes sure you understand all the concepts, and if you have a question on homework, he will walk through the entire problem with you, and go over concepts that involve that question. He would give examples that are on his weekly quizzes. I would love to take another class with him!

In short, professor Ryan is a great person. a great teacher, and a great tutor. He is willing to help individual students in whatever way necessary, which I wish I'd taken advantage of, and honestly he is one of the best teachers I've had at poly.

TAKE THIS PROFESSOR

Really don't think there's a better teacher for this class out there. Professor Ryan is an awesome lecturer and will do anything and everything to help everyone do well in his class. Definitely take him!

Dr. Walter is an amazing professor. If you really want to understand physics take him. He is very helpful during class meaning he explains everything neatly and will even ask students if they understand before moving on. Quizzes are given every Monday and are very fair. 2 midterms which can get a bit challanging but doable. Also, attend office hours, he is great at explaining and helping you understand the material. Highly recommend this professor.

Dr. Walter is the best professor I have had at Cal Poly, which says a lot considering I took this class for a GE. Dr. Walter shows up to class every day with a passionate, enthusiastic, and vibrant attitude ready to teach. He presents all class material clearly, and recognized when student may have trouble with particular equations and diligently works through them. He accepts all questions, and welcomes students regularly to visit him in office hours to ask questions, learn more about Physical Oceanography, or to just "talk about life." His lecture notes are all online and contain most information you will need for the tests. He does work through the equations in class, so it is important to attend class for that reason. Do not bother buying the recommended textbook. I opened it once. Dr. Walter grades very fairly, and he curves all tests which is great. The homework is relatively easy and straightforward, and you get full credit for completing it regardless of accuracy. There are weekly quizzes which are based on the homework, so if you do the homework you should be fine. There are two midterms, which were not awfully hard but I did significantly worse on the second than the first. The final is cumulative with a focus on the recent material, but seemed to be easier than the midterms. Dr. Waters teaching style is very straightforward, easy to understand, and he has a very clear speaking voice. Overall, Dr. Walter was amazing, let alone adorable. Definitely take Dr. Walter!!

Ryan Walter is incredible. He is incredibly passionate about oceanography, making the subject really enjoyable. He is very straightforward in his assignments and tests. Go to office hours because he is so helpful. I loved coming to this class everyday even though it was 8 AM. I definitely recommend taking this course!!!!!!!!

Dr. Walter is without a doubt one of the best professors I've ever had at Cal Poly. He was able to take a subject I had very little interest in and make it engaging and educational. His class is extremely reasonable with little out-of-class work. As long as you go to class and do the homeworks (one per week) you'll do just fine. Dr. Walter is a genius.

Dr. Walter is an incredible professor. He always communicates learning objectives clearly and effectively, which is impressive considering the amount of material covered in lecture. Dr. Walter also is very appreciative of any questions asked, even if they do deviate from topics under current discussion. If students have questions, he answers them to the best of his ability, and will provide resources, such as papers or websites, as a further reference. His class expectations are reasonable, and made very clear to students. Assessment of the material on tests is fair, and if students are paying attention all of lecture, and are working through board examples, they should feel well prepared. The board examples are a wonderful method of putting otherwise difficult concepts into practice. Homework is not busywork, as it elaborates on concepts discussed in class, (although the strict homework guidelines are a bit excessive). Overall, Dr. Walter is a great professor who makes a challenging course enjoyable.

I came into this class so unbelievably intimidated. I am a Journalism major, and generally go running at any sign of physics/science/math/etc. Walter is so incredibly passionate and it is reflected in his teaching. Lectures are fast-paced and cover a lot of information, but the information is interesting and relevant, and Walter is good about making sure everyone is understanding. DO NOT take this class if you are looking for an easy A. It is a ton of work and you have to dedicate a good amount of time to outside work and definitely studying for exams. As someone who was not expecting to do well in the class, this was one of the most rewarding courses I've ever taken. I highly recommend this course and absolutely recommend Professor Walter.

Walter is a brilliant man and a good lecturer. However, he acts as if PSC 201, Physical Oceanography, is a physics class and not a physical science class. What he taught didn't line up well with the course description and included much more math and physics than expected, considering physics is not mentioned once in the description of the class in the Cal Poly catalog. It's not a super easy class but if you go to class and do the homework you'll be fine, he's a very fair grader. He's so smart that sometimes he can be condescending with the class because he assumes people have a physics background when very few people in the class did. It was pretty aggravating considering I took this as an elective.

One of the best professor's I have had at Cal Poly. He is so knowledgeable and passionate about the subject, and just wants students to be interested in learning about oceanography. The class is super enjoyable and he adds a lot of interesting topics as side notes during the lecture. He is helpful in office hours and wants students to succeed. I have a non-science background, but found that doing all the homework, staying engaged in class, and asking questions can make this class very doable. Take this class if you get a chance- especially because we are so close to the ocean!

He's the best!!! He's so hyped about physical oceanography you can't help but be excited too. Super interesting course, definitely one of the favorite professors I've had. Don't miss out on taking him if you can.