Sharpe, John  

Sharpe seems like he doesnt know anything about Astronomy. I felt lost as hell in his class and I often comtemplated going to class or not. He has an annoying accent, and he treats the course too seriously, going into intricate detail about freakin stars. Don't take this class with him because you wont understand anything and end up just memorizing a bunch of formulas you will never give a shit about. Sharpe is a terrible teacher and he should stay with physics, where he freakin belongs

Professor Sharpe is by far one of the worst professors I've had so far (and you all know there's tons of bad ones here). He doesn't know how to teach astronomy whatsoever, the average midterm grade was a D and he still didn't curve. Definately DO NOT take him.

A lot of people complain about him because they think that astronomy is just going to be an easy A, but it's actually a hard subject and Mr. Sharpe is actually really good at teaching it. His lectures can get boring but every once in awhile he throws out some of his Irish humor which is great and keeps you awake. Stuff like observatory visits and one essay are a great way to bring up your grade. The tests are pretty hard, but he grades on a big curve and from what I've heard, he is much better than the astronomy 101 teacher. If you really want to take astronomy I'd suggest his class.

If you are going to take astronomy, know ahead of time that it is not an easy class. This was my second time taking the class and Prof. Sharpe is so much better than my last teacher. He explains the concepts as clearly as one can explaine such abstract ideas as astronomy. If you do the homework questions, you will have a good idea of the quiz questions. He is a good teacher, and he keeps you laughing with his irish humor.

I had a low priority and there were no classes left, then I got excited because astronomy was open and I thought it would be cool to use one of my free electives to learn some constelations and about galaxies. Boy was I wrong, I didn't expect it to be an easy a, but I did expect it to be atleast intersting. The material was so boring that I often fell asleep and when he started giving us long equations that helped us measure the distance of stars using our fingers I gave up and stopped going. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU CAN AVOID IT!!!!

I really enjoyed Professor Sharpe’s class this quarter. He’s a super nice guy with a fun sense of humor, and he does an extremely good job at teaching concepts in a straightforward, understandable way. He gives tons of examples and provides many illustrations that really allow the students to grasp the concepts he’s trying to explain. He always has a fun gadget or prop that he’ll show the class to give a real life example of how things work. Sharpe is one of those professors that you can tell knows what he’s doing, both physics-wise and teaching-wise. I feel like I really learned a lot in this class. Also, I’ve been astounded on multiple occasions by how he’s able to take some rather odd student questions and actually find a tangible answer to them. 10/10 would recommend professor Sharpe, especially if you’ve never taken physics before.

Prof. Sharpe is a good man. But, he speaks very slowly, and provides a lot of unnecessary information that can throw someone off. He will literally write out his full sentences instead of just his main point: ex: "Now that we have looked at the philosophies pertaining to the subject of light, we can now start to think about how we can move on to talking about the effects of heat." A lot of what he says kind of is common sense, so it ends up being really hard to pay attention in his class simply because it's so monotonous and slow. Especially at 8am. After the hour though, you'll have a grasp of the topic if you were able to stay focused. Homework was optional and not graded, and there were 2 midterms, a final. If I actually put effort into this class and didn't sleep I probably could have pulled off a high B.

Prof sharpe is a really nice guy, I loved having him as a teacher. He understood that most of the students are not physics majors and does his best to explain the topics, but since it is physics I still struggled with the info. I failed the first midterm and barely passed the second and had an average quiz score of a C. With that being said I studied really hard for the final and I ended with a C in the class. He also told some of my class mates that people rarely fail his class, so I think he either curves the final or the final grades, I didn't know this going into finals so I was stressing out.

Professor Sharpe was really good. His lectures are pretty easy to follow, and lab always gets out early. I was terrified to take Physics because I haven't taken it in high school, but Sharpe made the class very accessible and he is a very fair grader. I highly recommend.

Professor Sharpe is a great instructor. He clearly explains the material, is a fair grader, and has a good sense of humor. The class structure is as follows: three midterms each worth 15% of your grade, weekly quizzes worth 20%, and the final is worth 35% of your grade. The quizzes at the end of each week are doable if you study the night before and do some homework problems. The midterm and final are also very doable if you study an average amount. Sharpe is lenient with partial credit and you'll get at least a few points for trying.

Professor Sharpe is THE BEST PROFESSOR I have had at Cal Poly. He presents all the material in a very clear and very effective manner. The class is perfectly paced and he is always willing to answer questions if students are lost, even if it means talking about one question the whole class period. He has a great sense of humor!!! If you do the homework (even though it isn't required), study a little bit for the quizes, and study for the 2 midterms you will do fine. A "B" is very doable and an "A" with a little extra effort. FYI the final is definitely harder than the midterms and quizes. Office hours help a ton and sign up for a physics study session.

This professor was very good at lecturing and explained the material very clearly. He does not move too quickly and is very sweet and helpful. We did not have any homework that is required but you should do it to help with the weekly quizzes. Would definitely take this professor again!

Dr. Sharpe goes very slow with the material and will sometimes take an entire class period to answer one question. Despite this, he was able to get through all of the material for the course within the 10 weeks allotted. He is also very helpful during office hours. For the most part he is fairly straightforward in covering the material, but by the end of the class he becomes quite humorous. If you would like a painless physics experience then I would highly recommend Dr. Sharpe.

Having taken AP Physics in high school with a below average teacher and not having done well , I was terrified to have to take the same class as a GE in college. However, Professor Sharpe was a great teacher. Despite how much material there was to cover, he still explained everything at a speed which was understandable, always being open to questions about what we would learn in class or the homework. The quizzes are pretty straight-forward and can easily be done if you complete the homework and understand the concepts taught in class. The two midterms are longer but are similar to the quizzes, yet the final is significantly harder. Overall, great class!

Great guy, easy grader. This class was overall easy for me personally because I already took AP Physics 1 in highschool. Maybe that is what gave me an advantage/easier time in the class, but, he is very fair and thorough. He listens to his students well. There is a easy schedule he sets up for the whole quarter. I really recommend this professor. He only checks homework for credit, and quizzes are there every week to help boost your grade. The midterms were fair and not anything surprising from what we learn. Make sure tho for the midterms study concepts as to quizzes where it is mostly problem solving. He curves veryyyyy generously and listens to student complaints/concerns and takes them into consideration. Overall, GREAT guy, makes funny jokes (not dad jokes) and his irish accent makes learning more fun :-)

professor sharpe is great!! I really came into this class terrified because I am not a science person, but he really did a phenomenal job simplying down the concepts and explaining them clearly. he is very patient and receptive to questions and i honestly never felt lost in his class. i will say the second midterm was really tough, but he was reaosnable and curved the class average to a C. office hours help too, btw. just make sure you do all the homework problems and truly understand them (ask for help from sharpe if needed) and you will definitely pass the class!! sharpe is great, super reccomend.

TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. TAKE HIM. You will not regret it. He is the most adorable little Irish grandpa I wish I had. I came to this class with ZERO background in physics (never even took it in high school). The class was honestly a joke, it was so easy- and it made me actually like physics (so far...). Do all the homework (which is never due or graded, though answers are available online) and memorize some basic formulas and you'll be good to go for his super easy weekly quizzes. The first midterm is SO easy, the 2nd a bit harded, and honestly the final was way harder than I expected for this class, which is probably what made me end up with a B. Sharpe is super fast to get grades back to you, and always very willing to answer questions and do a ton of examples in class. His lectures are not that boring, easy to understand, organized, and made me always feel prepared. Do not buy the book because it's available as a free pdf, if you know the right places to look. If I could take the whole series with this man, I would.

I had Dr. Sharpe for the entire College Physics series (121-123). His lectures are not the most exciting in the world...but is physics really all that grand? He presents the material in a clear and understandable manner. I learned the information well, and did fine in the class. His tests are fair and straight forward. He is a nice guy and a helpful professor. He even wrote me a letter of recommendation for medical school. All in all, I had a pleasant year with the series and would recommend him to anyone taking PHYS 121-123.

Excellent professor, definitely recommended! Test and quiz material comes directly from lecture. I used the textbook sparingly, mostly to fill in knowledge gaps after missing a lecture or to clarify a concept. Overall great professor for both lecture and lab. Highly recommended!

Sharpe is a very fair professor. His (weekly) quizzes come from the lecture and from the simpler problems on the homework sometimes. Midterms are straightforward and the written portion is very close to the quizzes and lecture examples (sometimes the same). You get to use a note card for each of the midterms. He likes to use as much time as he can in lab which can be unfortunate when you have a Friday 3-6 lab (like me!). Definitely would recommend him.

Professor Sharpe is one of my favorite professors of Cal Poly. I was fortunate enought to be able to get him for PHYS 131, 132, and 133, and did not have any negative experiences with him. In both lab and lecture he is extremely helpful at clarifying confusing concepts and making sure the students truely understand the material. His quizes and tests are very very fair, and I did not feel tricked or unprepared on any of them. If I had to take any more PHYS classes, I would definately choose Professor Sharpe!

I recommend this professor. His lectures are interesting and he presents the material clearly. The grading is reasonable.

I recommand Sharpe. He has a good sense of humor and is very helpful

Everything was easy until the final. Weekly Quizzes are easier than the homework and the midterm is essentailly made up of the quizzes. He keeps lectures interesting and is a cool guy. In spite of his Scottish/Irish accent he is really easy to listen to. I am kind of bitter because I had a solid be going into the final with expectations of it being straightforward, needless to say it wasn

Dr. Sharpe is a great physics professor. for 132, he knew the material incredily well and was very proficient in relating it to his students. there were a LOT of REALLY stupid people in my class and he was easily able to make clear the material and answer their often ridiculouus questions. he has a cool accent (irish) and very interesting and humorous mannerisms. i laughed a lot in that class in addition to really understanding the material. he conveys it clearly and effectively. the class is based on 10 point quizzes that are easy and based on knowledge of the general concepts; not the ability to solve problems based on insanely complex extensions of them. the midterms and tests are also relatively simple, but he uses a bell curve so an A is rather difficult. the homework is WAY harder (but not collected) than the exams so do it, even part of it, and you've got an easy A.

HIS ACCENT IS SO AMAZING!!! This guy is hilarius. Teaches well, tests are fairly easy. No homework collected. Easier final than any of the midterms. Quizzes weekly consisting of only one problem keep you on top of things. Probobly the best to go with for Phys 132. Take him if you can get him

So this was the second time I had Sharpe and he was even better in 132 than in 141, he presents everything so clearly and I pulled out an A without doing any homework, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you understand everything perfectly in class.

Professor Sharpe is one of the best professors I have had here at Cal Poly. I had him for 132 lecture, and then I scheduled my whole schedule the next quarter so I could take him for 133 lab (because I couldn't get his lecture). He presents the material so well, and is an extremely fair grader. I would do my homework the night before the quiz and do pretty well on them, and the one midterm he had wasn't very hard. His final was comprehensive, but you had three problems you had to do that were on the last half of the class, and then you could choose three out of the next five that were on the stuff from the first half of the class. He even let some kid go home and get his cheat sheet because he forgot it. And, what's really cool, I never thought he knew who I was, but then I went into his 133 lab and he knew my name and asked me why I wasn't in his 133 lecture. He made 133 lab pretty easy, which is hard because it's long and ALWAYS takes the whole 3 hours...but he doesn't lecture much in it and you spend most of your time actually doing the lab, and he'll help you if you need it. In conclusion, take Sharpe, and you won't regret it.

Sharpe is a nice and fair professor. He suggests weekly homework that is not collected and has weekly quizzes that are almost always ridiculously easy. This class is absurdly easy if you are willing to put in a little bit of effort. Keep up with his homework, he posts the solutions to all of his homework problems in the entire year within the first week of class. I love this guy as a professor. Without a doubt, take Sharpe, his entirely understandable accent will make physics more interesting.

I am a sophomore computer science student and only needed Physics as a support course, it isn't a prerequisite for any classes in my major. I found that Sharpe made the course content very interesting and enjoyable to listen to. His accent makes it even more interesting.

Sharpe was a pretty good professor. The lectures were not too exciting but his accent was cool. Make sure you study everything on the notes. I got a D on the first midterm because I only studied the homework. The quizzes every friday are extremely easy if you just look at the notes. If you study the equations in the notes and do practice problems using those equations, you will ace the midterm and the final. He gives quizlets that are 1 question based on the reading every once in a while which are unfortunate and there's no real way to study for them except to read, so just cut your losses there. He will put some conceptual stuff on the midterm and especially the final so make sure to write down his explanation of things such as fiber optics

Prof Sharpe was probably one of my favorite teachers. I really enjoyed listening to him lecture. He really presents information in a way to make students understand it. He quizzes are straight from the homework or very similar to the homework questions so it really paid off doing the homework. The homework wasn't unreasonable amount, but sometimes there would be problems we didn't shown in class. I wish I could have taken him again for another course.

This man may the best physics professor at Cal Poly, where the Physics Department lacks consideration for those taking the classes. His lectures were very easy to understand, homework is suggested every week, weekly quizzes which are easy if you study the homework (he gives the worked out solutions of the hw on PolyLearn), one midterm (not too difficult), little quizlets every once in a while, and a fair final. He's also great in lab! And yes, his accent is cool. I'm sad that he won't be doing PHYS 133 next quarter, dooming me to play russian roulette when choosing my professor next quarter (since the department can't get their act together and say what professor is teaching what section). If you have the chance, take him for sure because you know he has to be better than anything else you would encounter in the dark void of physics professors.

Sharpe is a great professor with a great Scottish accent. He can be quite funny if you get to know him. His class is pretty easy if you have a prior physics background (AP tests or whatever) or if you keep up with the class. His homework is not collected, and all the homework is pretty hard--harder than the quizzes. He does a lot of example problems in class, so just take notes on those. READ THE "STOP TO THINK" SECTIONS OF THE BOOK BEFORE EACH CLASS, it's basically a free 10% of your grade. The weekly quizzes are easy, the one midterm is easy, 2/3 of the final for us was quizzes, so make sure you know how to do everything you get back. The only thing that sucks though is there's no curve, and even if you make a tiny mistake on the midterm or something, it affects your grade A LOT.

you are lucky if you get sharpe, he knows what he is talking about and explains it clearly, tests are EXACTLY like the hw so i just redid the hw the night before the test. plus his accent makes everything physics a little more interesting to listen to

I LOVED THIS GUY. As a person who doesn't really like or understand physics, I really enjoyed his style of teaching. He could condense 20 pages of textbook into an hour-long class lecture that makes much more sense and highlights the actual important concepts and equations you should be getting from the topic. He goes over examples in class, and won't make you feel stupid for stopping and asking questions. Of course, you definitely want to do the homework (even though it is not collected or graded) to have practice with the types of questions he could ask on quizzes and tests. I also really enjoyed that this course was a lab-lecture combination, so that you can actually apply the things you are learning and see how the equations function in real life. As a small sidenote, don't worry too much about having a perfect lab journal, it's worth a very small percentage of your grade (like 2%). Overall would highly recommend taking Dr. Sharpe, you will not regret it!

Sharpe is a nice guy, and he presents the material in a way that's easy to understand (for physics, I don't know about astronomy). His midterms were fairly easy, the final wasn't too bad. For grading, the midterms (2) are worth 20%, weekly quizzes 25%, and final 40%. I got a C+ because he puts the whole class on a curve. Very fair teacher, I strongly recommend him.

Take this professor if you can. He explains the material rather well and it is not boring at all. His weekly quizes were easy if you had done the homework. His exams were also fairly easy and were actually about what he had taught you and the homework he had assigned.

I wonder how this guy made it as a Physics professor. Every time a student asked him a homework question in lab, he always got it wrong. When we would go to lecture we would have to ask that professor, because Sharpe was so far off it was ridiculous.

In this class you have a quiz every Friday. He allows a 3 x 5 note card for the midterm and final. He is really relaxed, even dresses casual to class and can answer nearly any question that comes up. He makes lecture enjoyable by doing demos and even sometimes talks about real world applications to give you a better way to wrap your head around the ideas. It\'s too bad that I\'ve finished my physics series because I would definitely like to take a course with him teaching again, highly recommend John Sharpe.

realy good professor. the quizzes every friday were kind of hard but do-able. i think that its the subject matter that sucks more than anything else. VERY generous with partial credit. just one midterm and might i add a sweeet accent.

-- From Course Evaluation Spring 2017 -- || Dr. Sharpe, for the most part, was a highly effective lecturer. In class examples with strong ties to both homework and lecture discussion made topics easier to grapple. His office hours, although sometimes crowded, were incredibly helpful if you had homework questions in mind or if you simply wanted a brief re-cap of a topic. The speed at which topics were taught was a bit... fast. Lectures themselves were fairly well timed, I had no trouble keeping up with notes. But the amount of time spent inside a chapter was often limited. I should also note that test given by Dr. Sharpe, although fair, were difficult. Consisting of around 10 multiple choice questions and 2 free response questions - a tough proposition to complete inside of an hour. Leaving any question blank due to time could cripple even the best student's grade. Also, a big bonus was not having homework due - a very big help too time leniency. I'd definitely take him again if given the chance.

Sharpe is a good teacher, but he teaches completely out of the book for the intro physics class. I guess he specializes in optics, so mechanics are probably not his hot topic. There are small quizlets worth 1 point every week, and larger quizzes worth 10 points every week. Two midterms and a final. Each midterm has 3ish questions and the final had 7. No required homework so you have to push yourself to do the homework to stay on top of things. I didn't and did poorly in the class because of that. He's fair though, and won't fail you if you try your hardest.

The only reason that I got a C in the class, was because I started to slack off and skip classes towards the end of the quarter. It definitely helps to go to all classes and actually pay attention and take notes. He gives a lot of good examples in class and uses those types of example problems on the quizzes and midterms. He gives a little quiz and a big quiz nearly every week and it really hurts your grade if you do poorly on them. Overall, he's a pretty good teacher and he is not that boring or anything.

I thought sharpe was a great professor. He helped me during his office hours and recognized that I was struggling. He really makes an effort to help the student as long as the student is willing to make an effort to do well.

Professor Sharpe is an excellent instructor! The reviews from the previous two 141 students who received C's obviously did not listen to Professor Sharpe's advice. As he said at the beginning of the quarter and before each exam, the questions are DIRECTLY from the homework and lectures. This was completely true, on each exam there were questions that were word-for-word and number-for-number the questions from homework and quizzes. He is very good at explaining material, answering questions, and helping students that give effort.

Excellent teacher. All the questions on all the friday quizzes and the midterms are directly out of the book. The quizlets are on questions he went over in class. The final had 7 questions off each the midterms but he let us choose 6 to be graded. I had high school courses harder than this class, I had seen the questions on the final at least twice before. Don't worry so much about the quizlets, they are only worth a point. Prof Sharpe allowed a 3x5 note card on both the final midterm and the final. I didn't really read the book or do the homework, but I DID KNOW HOW TO DO ALL THE EXAMPLES GIVEN IN THE BOOK. Easy A if you are competent in the least.

Dr. Sharpe is the bomb! He is cool and is a good professor. In the first day of class, he tells us that the quizes and midterm are almost or is exactly like the homework! That goes for the final somewhat too! He tells you this so what does this mean? DO THE FREAKING HOMEWORK! seriously, if you want a simple and easy A, do the freaking homework even if homework is not required to be turned in. He tells you the quizes, midterm, etc. are from the homework, then DO IT! If you don't understand a problem, go ask for help in his office hours. HE IS REALLY HELPFUL in office hours. His lectures are pretty striaght forward to the point. Love his accent, take him at least once when you are at cal poly! Great professor!

Great teacher, genuinely wants you to do well and is always willing to help you out. Fair tests, and quizzes and presents the material very clearly. Going to his office hours helped me out a lot and he was always happy to answer questions. His demonstrations helped a lot too because this class doesn't have a lab.

Wow, Sharpe is one of the best teachers I've ever had. I can't believe he doesn't have a higher rating. In highschool I hated physics, with Sharpe its my favorite class. He makes it actually fun to come to class because you know everyday he'll say or do something entertaining. Homework is assigned but not turned in, although the tests are very similar to it. One small quiz (easy, 5 minute problem) and one regular quiz (medium, 15 minute max problem) are given each week. Two midterms and a final are also given during the quarter. Take Sharpe, everyone who does brags about him, everyone who doesn't wishes they did.

The class is pretty straightforward. Sharpe does a good job and does an above average job in office hours. For little tips in the class, the quizlets are usually the day before the quiz for that week, though once or twice they were a different day. Look over the problems given in class cuz he usually copies them exactly, just changing the values. During dead week, he covered the last chapter, chapter 12, in two days and it ended up being on the final. The problem was extremely easy if the book was flipped through or glanced at, so if he does this again, concentrate on that chapter cuz it'll be an easy 10 points on the final. A huge plus for Sharpe is all the partial credit he gives. If you just write values down, or a formula or two, he'll give you some credit. On the second midterm, I got the first problem wrong--yes, WRONG--and I still got full credit on it for writing equations and given values down. Like others have said, he allows a flash card and he doesn't try to trick you at all. Sharpe is an above average teacher, but he's not terrific. From the looks of it though, there aren't too many great 141 teachers so go with Sharpe--he gets the job done.

He really wasn't that helpful a professor when it came down to it. Whenever we would question him on a problem he would realize he did the problem wrong and then kind of just ignore it because he didn't want to get into it. He also tends to not finish problems in lecture because he is afraid someone will question his work.

Prof. Sharpe is a great teacher, he explains everything clearly, he also is kinda funny which helps with the dullness of many lectures. He doesn't collect homework but you should still do it, not doing all the work was the main reason for me not getting an A

Loved him. He was hysterical and kept us all intrigued. Totally nice guy who is willing to help in every way. Tests weren't too bad. Just study the notes and the homework problems. Those are what he puts on the quizzes and midterms. Really no need to read the book. Final was yuck, but you can save yourself with the other tests. He lets you know on the first day that he's not out to get you: he will work with you if you're on the edge. I would take him again in a heartbeat.

Well... I hate to say it, but I was a bit let-down. I was expecting amazing, but I guess I was spoiled by my HS phys teacher. Sharpe was decently clear, but in general I stuck to the methods I learned in high school because they made more sense to me. However, as other students have said, he gets the job done. I would try to take him over other professors, but don't get your hopes up too high. He's good, above average for CP phys it seems, but not excellent in my opinion. On the plus-side he's got a killer accent. It's fun to listen to even if you don't like Physics! Haha. No but really, I shouldn't say bad things (and I gave him a pretty good grade). I just had too high of expectations.

I truly enjoyed Dr. Sharpe's class. Even though we moved pretty quickly through the material and problems got harder each chapter, Sharpe always taught with enthusiasm and his own witty flare. Plus, his accent was just cool. Homework was never due (but recommended), but if you miss a class, you're most likely going to be confused about a concept because the book itself is confusing. We never actually read the book, however, so showing up to lectures was enough for me to pass this course. He makes up his own problems for the test which get progressively more difficult, but as long as you know how to do the examples he provides in class and the problems in the book, you should be fine. I would take him again in a heartbeat.

I signed up for the class not knowing anything about Sharpe, but the accent alone had me excited on the first day. His weekly quizzes are a good indicator of what to expect on the final. So make sure you pay attention in class. He's a great lecturer and presents everything in a clear manner. 2 of the final questions came straight from the notes and examples in class! Even though homework isn't collected, make sure you do it anyway. You'll sail. Sharpes the bomb.

Very Good professor. He explains complex ideas in a very clear and concise manner. It almost goes by unnoticed how smoothly and precisely he describes topics. Would Definately RECOMMEND. Gives homework assignments that are not due. Quizzes every week, 2 midterms, final. All of which are very reasonable.

I have had Dr. Sharpe for six different courses so far: physics 132, optics, nonlinear, quantum lab, etc. Get him in a lab and watch him go! In a lab setting, he is incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and keep a keen ear out for his witty sense of humor. Overall, it can be said that he is a tough professor. He expects a high level of effort from his students, but he is very clear on what that level is. His lectures are clear and enjoyable with his great Irish accent and his testing is straighforward. If you ever have difficulty for any reason while in his class, he is one of the most understanding professors out there. He will help you in any way that he can as long as he knows you are trying as well. Do not leave Poly without taking a course from Dr. Sharpe!

Dr. Sharpe is an incredible professor. He genuinely cares about the education of his students. He was always willing to take extra time to explain concepts in greater detail. He has an interesting sense of humor. I recommend Dr. Sharpe if you are willing to put in the effort and REALLY want to take something away from the course.