Peters, Ralph  

Bootsie

His lectures are boring. I often find myself poking at my calculator just to stay awake. He wonders off on random tangents. One minute he is talking about energy, the next minutes he is talking about the different forms of beauty. He is way too old and senile to be teaching. Takes way too long to explain relatively simple things.

Professor is really too old to teach. I know he's trying hard and cares for his students, but, sincerely speaking, I think it's time to retire. His ways of teaching are boring and that makes students bored over the material. There's no push to study or learn the material, since his classes seem so easy. There's no homework, which is a big mistake. Quizzes are straight from the recommended assignments and I recommend you do them all of them. Problems in the tests are very similar to those examples given in class and in quizzes. The final was very hard, but the teacher was a fair grader. Expect to hear a lot when you go talk with him in his office hours. He tries to teach students on how to study every time you talk with him.

Never less than 10 minutes late to class. Talks in a monotone voice, goes off on pointless tangents. Takes an hour to explain 10 minutes worth of materials. BORING.

i know professors aren't here to entertain us, but, come on. this lab was so boring. dr. peters is a nice guy, and he practically hand fed us the answers to the labs, but it was the longest lab i've ever had. i think he's stuck in the teaching style of the 1950's, personally. i hear mottmann is the one to take for lab...in and out in an hour and you do HIS labs, not the ones in the little book.

Peters is a very interesting professor. His lectures are incredibly boring most of the time and incredibly funny some of the time. He gets lost on random topics so easily you have to sit and try to remember why he's talking about French people, baseball, and carpentry when he's supposed to be talking about Physics. He stretches progressively bizarre analogies until they make no sense until finally he sums it all up with a single statement: "And that's like Physics because ..." When he's actually talking about Physics it's incredibly boring because he goes so slow and assumes everyone is a moron. (EVERY chapter he would stop at some point and remind us that we still needed to know how to use vectors, because like a carpenter you have many tools in your toolbox... another 30 minutes gone.) I had a him for lecture and lab, because the sections were "chained" or somesuch. The first hour of the lab was basically another boring lecture where he explained in minute detail how to do a lab that probably only took 15 minutes. He always simplified the labs a lot so we didn't have to do as much work as other 131 labs. In a sentence: He's a really easy teacher if you can stand really boring lectures.

What can I say about Ralph??? Well for starters he is a little old. He gets sidetracked easily and goes pretty slow in his lectures, which is pretty much why I stopped going after the second or third week. I got a 4 on the AP test in high school so I knew pretty much everything in the class already, but Ralph teaches it and does it a little different than the way I learned. As a result he gave me a 63 on a test that I got all the answers right on, which is a little weird. Then he didn't have our second midterms graded before we took the final so I made all the same mistakes on the final, but somehow ended up with an A so go figure. Needless to say I'm not taking him again. He's entertaining but not the best teacher I have had. He was probably really good back in his day.

oooh man. this man does not deserve as high of a rating as he has on polyratings. let me just warn you: do NOT take this prof!!! i believe myself to be a sane, smart individual; therefore, i must have some kind of valid input... trust me, if you want to learn physics (or stay awake in class), DO NOT take peters. he must be 80 years old by now, and all he did in lecture was one or two sample problems. i mean, 2 problems, 1.5 hours. he is SO slow and SO boring, and just doesn't make sense. i'm sorry, i don't mean to be rude, but if i were him, i would retire just to save my students from torture. his labs are long and boring too... i would go on and on, but i know you don't want to read that much. bottom line: DO NOT TAKE PETERS.

First off, I'd like to agree with Dr. Peters in saying that it would be a screwed up world if monkeys did if fact breed to make oranges. This is not an uncommon peice of his lecture material. Somehow he always comes up with the most random analogies, and after you are done scratching your head and cracking up at his senial attempts to help you understand something, it almost makes sense. The problem is, it's not really all that hard to understand in the first place but he thinks everyone is that clueless and he tends to over explain things. If you have a short attention span, I would not recomend him because he is really slow and boring most of the time. Sometimes I think he throws that junk in his lectures to make sure we stay awake just to hear what he has to say next. I promise you the humor of these random comments will not keep you interested in physics. Nothing from coffee to cola stopped me from falling asleep in his lectures or his labs, and if I hadn't taken physics in high school, I don't know what I would have done. Here is the bonus though, If you don't like homework, and you just study his examples, you will do very well on the tests which are wieghted 80%. Pretty easy class.

His tests are really easy. No tricks. Just straight forward and seem to be right out of the workbook. No homework is ever assigned. He is really old though and gets REALLY confused sometimes about what he is talking about. I think he was a relatively good professor.

this guy is so old it is ridiculous. you would probably be better off (if he is the only teacher you can get, like me) to just take physics off this quarter, cuz this dude is WAY TOO CRAZY!!

Literally, if he finished one example in class, i was ecstatic. he showed up ten minutes late to every lecture and always had to hurry and scribble the answers on the board in the last three minutes of class because he spent too much time talking about carpenters and other horrible analogies.

Dr. Peters tries very hard to relate physics with his not so funny analogies, but sometimes they work pretty well. Towards the end of the quarter, he will realize that he's behind and will take on a faster pace, which is where it gets a little confusing. He does more examples (word problems) than lecturing, and his 2 midterms( he call them 'bluebooks' ) are very straigtforward, very similar to what he shows us in class. Make sure you do the homework problems then you'll be allright. Dr. Peters comes in late a lot of the times and takes 5 mins or so to catch his breath, so an hour of class means 45 mins. He takes a long time grading the midterms. He sometimes tries too hard and takes too long to get his point across, but I find that better than being confusing. Talking to him after class or in office hours is very effective. Overall, Dr. Peters is very generous and kind, but certainly not funny. When you ask a question in class, speak very loud because he can't hear you sometimes.

Senile

His lectures are very slow paced making them boring, BUT very comprehensive! He gives out worked-out homework problems and allows an equation sheet on all of the quizzes and tests. He is very helpful in office hours and he is a really nice guy. He may be old but the guy is pretty sharp. Take him if you have no background in physics, his slow and steady style makes it a lot easier to learn physics.

Having taken physics 2 years ago in high school, I already knew every single thing we did in this class. In fact, it was pretty much a joke and I should not have taken it. This class was very boring for me, but it was not really the teachers fault. I did find him to be a bit dull, and to be honest I didn't reall feel any need to go to class. I did about 10 problems for homework the whole quarter, and didn't go to half of the lectures. The labs were very long as well, since Peters would step through the whole lab before hand in great detail for about an hour and a half, when you could probably do each lab in about 5 minutes.

Peters has far surpassed his teaching age. He has got to be over 80, and simply cannot teach anymore. He is also intimidating to approach if you have any questions. His lectures were extremely boring and uninformative. I took his lab too and it was even more boring since he lectured trying to catch up what he didnt get to in lecture. Also, do not expect any partial credit on the one midterm or final he gives. He gives a little partial credit, but with only 4 questions that were on each test, its extremely easy to make minor mistakes and fail. Also, he is always late to class, even showed up 25 minutes late for the final. Overall, definitly stay away from dr. peters.

Peters presents the material so you can understand it, but it is very dry. He is unable to give good examples because he is so old he uses examples like styles of dancing from the '40s. He would ask if anyone had questions, then not answer, I'm not sure why.

NO NO NO!!! Stay away. He is horible at presenting the material, he is too old to understand you if you have a question (and trust me, I asked, and he seemed more confused at my question then I was at the material). Let's put it this way. I had an A going into the final, and I didn't know how to do anything. Thought I might end up with a D and have to retake it, but somehow, miraculously got a C. So I guess that was one good thing, he gave me the C. Other than that, TERRIBLE!!! One of the worst teachers I had a Poly my first year.

Peters is a very boring teacher. His monotone voice will put anybody to sleep in a few minutes. He is basically a repeat teacher: All of his sections are the exact same, down to the choice of words, and the lesson plan hasn't changed in 30 years. Seriously, his brain is on autopilot for the entire day. He is acting, not teaching; just reciting lines and drawing on the board for an hour a day. Don't take him if you want to learn physics. Don't by the optional lab handbook, you won't need it.

It's kind of sad being in Peters' class; thirty years ago he was probably a cool prof. to get. Now, he's insanely old, and he can't teach that well. He has his funny moments (analogies between beautiful women and physics equations), but you're laughing because it's so fucking stupid. I generally came only for the quizzes and midterms, and that was more than was bearable. He gives out a key to every quiz, but the 2 I stuck around to see had major errors. I also had him for a lab instructor; come at least half an hour late because he goes over his lecture for that week(you won't learn anything on this telling either) If you took AP physics B and passed, he is the guy for you, because you'll rarely have to go to class.

Peter's is a really nice guy. I went to some of his office hours, and he's a good guy to talk with. I didn't do to well in his class, but physics isn't my strong point. I'll either get a C or D, hopefully not a D, I don't think I did that great on the final

lol this guy is hilarious when he tells stories in class! he is really boring when he is trying to teach though. i took him for lab so it was ok because i didn't need to learn anything really. as others have posted, he is a bit detached from reality. i'd recommend against taking him for anything except lab.

Peters is not all that bad. He may be boring in class but you have to read the chapters before he starts lecturing.. if you could follow that. His quizzes are very similar to the problems he assigns.. so make sure you do the homework.. Try to find someone you could work them out with. You both will understand a bit better.

Besides the fact that Peters is probably 90 years old, i thought he was a good teacher. He is pretty slow, but he explains the material well. There are weekly quizzes, which are very simple if you do the homework, and 1 midterm, which consists of 4 very easy problems, and the final is cumlitative. I didn't give him a chance at first because i thought he was too old to teach, but i ended up liking him overall.

Peters is a great man. I missed around 5 class meetings and still got a solid A coming to his final. He's good for someone who has taken physics in High School before. I got him for lab too. He does all the calculation work for you and all you do is the experiment. Lab normally lasts 1.25 hrs.

I didnt like him...but i didnt dislike him either. Seems like we should have gone deeper into the subject than we did. I took AP Physics in HS. There was nothing new in this class with Peters that I didn't learn in AP Physics. He wasn't the greatest lecturer but he was okay I guess. Kind of indifferent about him. If i were to take the class over though, I'd take it with someone else.

Dr. Peters is a boring teacher, except for his few random stories that somehow relate to what he's talking about. It will amaze you how hippies can relate to waves, but he'll do it. Of course it doesn't help you to understand the material at all and you wonder if the poor man shouldn't retire soon, but the class is easy. I think the material is easily understood. Just make sure that you know all the topics for the final even if he doesn't cover it in class. Peters covered five chapters in the last two weeks and expected us to know all of the material contained in those chapters. This made for a complicated final.

I think Dr. Peters is a very good instructor. He presents the material clearly and uses good examples to illustrate the points. His tests are fair and his grading system is fair as well. The only drawback is that sometimes he doesn't seem to notice when students have questions. However, if he does recognize a student with a question he does what he can to help. I would recommend Dr. Peters.

What an interesting journey I have had. Going to this class was like going to a story session. How fun! Dr. Peters loves to wander off on these truly amusing tangents that somehow return to the original topic. "My wife cooks me a baked potato..." "The guy couldn't memorize the gravitational constant, but boy could he memorize the numbers of pretty girls! (followed by a short story of a resulting relationship that this guy had.)" I could literally go on for hours. He presents the material very well, and his office hours are spectacular. He is so chill... I love talking to him, cause he just doesn't care. You will love his daily attire. It's always a pleasnt suprize to see him walk in the door with the combination of clothes that he wares. Oh yea... watch chalk cover his pants and shirt by the end of class too... enjoy. (take him)

"Wow, man!" Most likely, you won't learn a thing in his course, but you'll be entertained by some of the random comments he has. His lectures are LOOOOOONG, and he doesn't remember where he left off last time, so he might be some-what repetative (once he repeated an ENTIRE LECTURE for us...). In lab, he'll talk for one and a half hours for a 5 minute experiment. He's pretty fair in both lecture and lab in terms of grades - he has quizzes which are basically the homework questions, exams require 4 of 5 questions to be answered (5 of 6 for the final). Drop lowest midterm/half of final, and one quiz. Homework is not collected. I'm not sure if I would recommend him; it depends if you (A) want to sleep, (B) hear weird stories relating to nothing, or (C) want to learn physics. But, on a lighter note, he's a very nice guy and is actually worth talking to.

A lot of people seem to be bashing Dr. Peters. Yeah, I've seen better, but I think some people like to be led around by the nose. Maybe it was because a lot of the material in this class was review for me, but I thought he was an OK teacher. Not phenomenal, but as long as you're willing to do your part in taking good notes and paying attention you'll be able learn the material from him. And come on guys, give me a break. It's high-time somebody appreciated a dorky sense of humor.

Peters is a pretty straight forward professor. If you go to class,do the homework and take the quizes you should pass. He's kind of a nutball and always tells these random stories and goes of on tangents but I thought it was pretty amusing. He has a cool curve so and 85 is an A-. I would recomend him. He cares about his students and can tell which ones are trying and takes that into consideration.

He's alright. Peters is very clear in his lecture, you shouldn't have any problems comprehending the stuff if you go to lecture and if you're able to stay awake...but then again that's the kicker. He goes at a very very slow pace. I got pissed at the fact that i had to get up early when he was only able to accomplish one example. I stopped attending lectures for the last three weeks because they were a complete waste of time. I ended up teaching my own dumbass with the solutions posted from another class. Barring that hes kinda cool. He talks about hte weirdest shit you can imagine, and he somehow relates it to physics. I think him being senile adds some flavor to his teaching. If you want an easy time going through phys132 take this motherfucker.

Peters is a great guy! He is easy to talk to and his off beat sense of humor made his class always intresting. He keeps his class at a slow pace which helps to make physics easier to learn. His labs were ALWAYS out early. He is a great guy and a good teacher.

This man is great! yeah he can be a little boring at times... and he tends to repeat material a lot.. but it's all in the name of learning. And it works! I had never understood material as well as I did in this class. I did really well on his midterms because of it too (which were identical to problems he did in class, and he gave you all the formulas you needed). If you get a chance, take him.

I've taken Dr. Peters for two quarters now and I would take him againi for 133. Although he spends all class time doing physics problems on the board, he explains everything very clearly. There are weekly quizzes but they are pretty easy because he writes the equations that will be used on the quiz problem on the board. There is only one midterm and a final but both are fairly straightforward as long as you pay attention and take notes in class. He is also a great lab professor. He clearly explains how to do the entire experiment before he lets you loose. Some people complain that Dr. Peters is boring. But, if you actually pay attention, he says some of the most random things sometimes.

Professor Peters is for the most part boring, and I found that I really didnt learn too much in his class, but he basically writes all of your quizes and exams on the board for you during lecture. Every question was something I had seen before, except with different numbers. I dont know if it was the boredom kicking in, but he was actually made the class laugh during lecture. Bottom line, conceptually, you dont learn too much, but if you put in minimal work, and at least look at some homework problems, you will do well in the class.

This was my second experience with Dr. Peters. He's a nice guy but also old and senile. His lectures are boring, at one point I recall him explaining something about a STIFF DEAD CAT and another time he sang a song about a RED ROBIN and JACK FROST. His tests are fair, and he provides you with a formula sheet. His recitations during lab are long, usually about two of the three hours (plenty of time to grab breakfast) most of the material he presents is repetitive and covered in the textbook. The homework doesn't need to be turned in. His grading is very standard and quite lenient. Not too bad overall, but be prepared for some long lectures.

I'm sure Dr. Peters was an excellent prof in the 70's but his brain has aged 30 years since then! He seems to stumble over his notes and formulas and has difficulty remembering most things. He NEVER gets through his entire course agenda and usually skips the last few chapters of the course due to lack of time. He teaches thoroughly, however very very slowly and usually takes an entire class period to re-teach what he taught the previous lecture. I took Dr. Peters for both 132 and 133 and can advise you to TAKE MOTTMAN! He knows his stuff and is very very amusing.

Peters is one of the most boring lab guys ever. Is was a constant struggle to stay away. That said, it was easy, and you always got out early, usually after about two hours.

"All right, imagine you've got a string and you just smear butter all over the outside, and the butter is charges." So that was one of the few moments of interest I experienced through the entire quarter. This guy is very boring, somewhat senile, and poorly connected with his current reality. His lectures involve nothing but doing calculus derivations on the board or copying a few prepared statements from his notes, along with a few example problems, which seem to take eons for him to finish. Once in a while he will say something incredibly funny, without meaning to, but these moments are too rare to justify the agony of sitting through his lectures.

Horrible. Really needs to retire. He is very scattered and more often then not wrong. Due to this I had to teach myself from the book and as any non-physics major can tell you...that is pretty damn hard. He is a nice guy and all but really passed his teaching prime. I advise against taking him.

Where should I start? I seriously think that he is too old for teaching. 70% of the time, I am not sure if he knows what the heck he is talking about. He always wanders off the topic he is originally lecturing about. Also, the examples he gives are extremely "stupid." One time, he was talking about how electron emitts the color "blue" when it releases photon/energy, then he went off describing the different types of blue, "blue in the jeans, blue in your girlfriend's eyes, on and on." Oh my God! His lecture is also very boring. It doesn't give you motivation to study and learn the materials. Taking him was a big mistake.

Oh, boy! My chance to talk about Ralph. This is going to be fun! Well I'll start by saying it was absolutly the worst class that I've taken at Poly! No if, ands or buts! Why you ask? Um, well here's a quote "This [thing] is really rare. Like for example, would you ever find a baby born with gold teeth? You know, babys are just not born with gold teeth so it's just that rare!" It's the type of humor that you laugh at him and not with him then leave early before you fall asleep again. That reminds me that most of the class sits right next to the door so they can leave early. Another quote: "These electrons and protons [I think] like to bond with each other. No, man, it's not like what you guys do with your girlfriends or what those damn hippies do with each other, they are attracted to each other." Had enough? I would have been happy to get a D and get out of the class. I ended up getting a C. Even better. The reason the class is hard is because either A) You fall asleep, B) After a few lectures you learn that it's more productive to not go to class, or C) You actually try to pay attention to what he is saying but he just doesn't make any sense. Other stuff: No he doesn't collect homework. He has quizzes probably about 6 and drops the lowest one. 3 midterms + final and drops 1 miderm i think but this means NO CURVE at all. He won't budge, probably because that's how they did it in the 50's when he went to college. One last thing. If you have to take him, you might as well bring a sweatshirt and take your time coming to class. He always walks in at 15 past the hour (after mysteriously walking down the hall a couple of times) and then walks in a opens ALL the windows even if it's raining. DO NOT TAKE PETERS!

Dr. Peters is a nice man and a good teacher. He understands what the students need out of this class. He has a sense of humor as well. If you want an A take peters