Zammit, Ronald  

I don't undertand all these good reviews... Zammit is the worst teacher I've had at Cal Poly. He constantly does all of his "example" problems wrong, writes incorrect formulas, and goes on for the whole lecture period about his wonderful class from 10 years ago. Also, he writes his own test questions and forgets to put in pieces of information you need to solve the problem. On our first test, he corrected on the information 3 out of 5 questions midway through the test (after everyone had spent 45 minutes trying to figure them out). Most frustrating professor ever. He does offer a lot of help in his office hours though, which is nice because he doesn't actually teach during the normal class. Oh, I got a good grade because I'm good at math, so this isnt just being pissed about a grade. As for Zammit...Just don't do it!

At first Zammit was a little hard to understand. He is so smart that when he teaches 121, he skips over the small beginner details that kids in the class don't know about. He didnt really present the material well, as his lecture plan was out of a different book than our hw was lol, but he is very very helpful in office hours and has good intentions to help his students do well. It was alot of work but I definately learned alot to.

Zammits class was spent doing practice problems and then going over the material needed for the tests the last five minutes. The only way to do incredibly well in the class is to really study the material and learn it yourself from the book itself. However, Zammit is very helpful after class and in office hours and drops a midterm, which helps a lot.

Seriously, why all the negative on Zammit? This guy made a hard to understand subject outrageously easy! He zeroes it down to the simplest formulas and builds from there. Yes, I studied my ars off but he's always there for you and his examples are 'real life' related. He's one of the best teachers I've ever had! I highly recommend him! A friend took him for EE requirements and said he's a must!

Ron Zammit was very helpful when not understanding a concept. He was also a very fair grader, and wasn't out to make his class unusually difficult. He wants success for his students. I would highly recommend him.

Laid Back and understandable.

Ron can relate to students, is straightforward, and a good communicator who keeps your attention well. Good Pick

The best physics teacher, enough said.

Lectures were very unclear. He didn't present material well. When the class had difficulty understanding, he just kept going even though he knew that nobody understood. Tests were very hard. But, if you like to drink beer at Spikes, he will go with you.

Dr. Zammit is a student's professor. He is very friendly and approachable. His lectures are well organized and clear. His tests are medium to difficult but are fair. I would definitely recommend taking his class.

I had him for lab, and as a lab instructor he is very good. He'll explain ONLY what you need to know. He'll help you understand the labs (which are usually too convoluted for their own good) and you will usually get out early. But I could tell that his lecture class was always ahead of everyone else. So he's probably pretty hard there, but don't quote me on that. Very good lab instructor.

Zammit is a very nice person, but not a good professor. If you have some background in the material, he will suit you well, but if you are completely new, you will not understand. He starts concepts in the middle, and never tell us how to apply them to problems on the homework. I didn't understand most homeworks until 2-3 lectures afterwards. Homework is due for poitns every class period

Zammit was awesome for 133. He's very knowledgeable and a good lecturer, but you have to work hard just to understand the material. He will be especially nice to you if you go to office hours. His tests were related to the homework and he even puts one problem exactly from the homework on each midterm! He also let us have 1 cheat-sheet per midterm and use all of those for the final. If you can take Zammit, do it, but it's a pretty difficult class no matter what teacher you have.

Zammit is an okay professor. He is semi-entertaining. There was homework every night unless he hadn't got to it in lecture yet. He will explain homework problems in class. The test were taken in the lab period so there were three hours available instead of one. This meant less labs, but more lecture. We learned new material up until the last day of class. He had night review sessions before the tests and final. Overall he is a good teacher.

Dr. Zammit, although difficult, was a very good teacher. he explained material clearly and was good at answering your questions when you didn't understand. He definitely knew the material he was presenting and you could tell that he loved teaching.

Dr. Zammit is the students professor, he is always willingly to help you understand the concepts in and out of class. Be warned, he goes through the material pretty quickly, if you don't keep up with the reading and homework you'll be left behind. Don't hestiate to ask questions, if you don't he'll only go faster. He is a pretty fair grader, if you understand his old exams and the homework assignments you will have no trouble passing the class.

Dr. Zammit is a great teacher. He moves through the material pretty quickly, but will come to a screeching halt if questions are asked. Dr. Zammit is patient and helpful during his office hours. The 3 exams and the final will be curved. If you want to do well in his class: do all of the homework assignments, ask questions (in class OR office hours), and, most importantly, study the old exams in the library.

He is a very helpful teacher and is always available during office hours. You can learn a lot from this class but it can be difficult at times. While the tests did cover the material, very few of the questions were simple to solve, and often required a lot of thinking to come to the right answer. If you do take him I recommend going to his office hours as much as possible.

The only way to do well in this class is to spend every second in his office hours. His lectures are boring and hard to follow. However, he curves the grades so much that almost anyone can get at least a C. This was the worst class that I have ever taken.

Dr. Zammit was a very fair professor. He has review sessions for tests and pretty much prepares you for exactly what will be on the test. Plus he drops your lowest midterm. If you have to take Physics 133, do it with Zammit. He's a great guy...

Zammit has a lot of common sense and is easy to talk to. But he moves too fast for many people, this left me stuggling most of the time to keep up. HW load was also a little above average. I wish he would explain things better in class. But he knows the material very well and still enjoys teaching it. I like how he would throw in some "bed time stories" on applications of what we were learning about. Dropping one midterm helped save my grade. If you get him just work hard and you'll get through it.

Knows physics like the back of his hand but doesn't really teach. Too busy trying to get through as much materiel possible to bother with having you understand the stuff he's going through.

Dr. Zammit is a really cool professor and a nice guy... likes to help out a lot in office hours and keeps all his midterms and final exams on reserve in the library. However, he moves REALLY, REALLY quickly and you end up covering 3-4 more chapters than the other Physics 133 classes. He assumes everyone is an EE major and gets everything quickly... He appreciates questions in lecture!

Dr. Zammit is very passionate about physics dealing with electricity and magnetism. I personally hate the subjuect, but he did his best to teach me the material. His tests are very fair and his curve saved my grade, which I thought was going to be a C. The only complaints that I have are that he is a little intimidating in office hours, and he only really relates with engineering students ( I am chemistry), otherwise, this course was overall painless.

Ron was a wonderful teacher, who genuinely cared about his students. His class was difficult, and I ended up going to office hours 4 times a week, but if you apply yourself, you will know your shit. I took Ron a year ago, and I still go by just to say hello. Take Zammit.

Zammit is a great teacher. I would highly recommend him for anyone who has to take phys 133. He definitly knows the stuff inside and out, and is very excited about it. I had him for lab also, which I also recommend. I never once spent more than 2 hrs in lab, and he often modified the labs to make them shorter and get rid of the pointless time consuming parts. He gives 3 midterms, drops the lowest, and grades on a curve. He's not like most phys professors. He seems to be more like a normal person. You can tell that some people are phys teachers by just looking at them, not zammit. It's hard to explain, other than he's really cool. Take him if you ever get the chance.

A very caring teacher that helps his students a lot. His tests weren't so bad, but expect a lot of homework. Labs are definitely easy. He's a pretty laid back type of guy and there is a lot of student-teacher interaction in the class. He's very understanding of student dificulties so just ask him. I definitely recommend him.

Zammit was a kick ass teacher, he goes faster than the other classes but he presents the material clearly. He collects homework and his grader grades very easy. He also posts answers to the homework on the internet before it is due, which makes doing and understanding the homework a hell of a lot easier. His lab quizzes are pretty easy. His tests were pretty difficult, but easily managed, especially if you look at his old tests. All of his tests questions are similar to those, if you study them before your test, you can ace all of his tests. If you don't take him you'll regret it when you have to bust your ass for a C in another class.

This guy is VERY SMART AND HARD! But if you want to really learn physics this is the class, this teacher is very interesting and funny, i've NEVER seen n e 1 sleep in his class! ... and that would normally be me. his labs are great, but he goes above and beyond that which is requiered, but u get notes for test/final, which makes it very manageable. Expect to go to office hours atleast twice a week, normally 7-8am, get used to the mornings and his crowds he is VERY popular when it comes to office hours.

Dr. Zammit is a practical physicist. To me, that means that he seems more interested in how to do a problem than why it works that way. I think the majority of engineering students are "how" students, and if you are one, I recommend Zammit. If you are more of a "why" student (you like lots of formula derivation and fewer sample problems) then Zammit probably won't suit you as well.

I would have to say Zammit is one of the best professors I've had at poly. His homework load isn't too excessive, and his lectures clarify anything you don't understand. When he notices the class kind of drifting off, he'll regress a little to make sure everyone understands before moving on. A lot of his test questions are homework questions with slightly changed numbers. Your grade in the class reflects how hard you work. I strongly recommend him.

Prof Zammit is a good overall teacher. His tests are hard but fair. He offers review sessions and his office hours are always open and helpful. He really knows what he's talking about and his lectures are usually pretty interesting. I would take him for another course if offered.

Zammit's a good teacher and a cool guy outside of class too. He presents the material clearly and with humor. His first test threw me off and even though most of my work was correct, he gave me an F, but luckily you get to throw a midterm out!! You have to turn in homework, but thats a good thing. He's willing you help you out if you go see him in office hours. His lab was really easy too. He wont make you write a full report, just the basics. It would have been a great class if I hadn't have spent most of my time trying to convince him that I wasn't a dumb blonde. Take him if you get a chance.

If you want to learn physics, take Zammit. His tests may be hard and you may have to do more work and study to get the same grade but you'll learn it better than any other teacher. He really knows his shit and is always helpful in office hours. I would highly recommend him.

Zammit is cool. He's no Peters. If you're looking for an easy A or B then get the fuck out. If you want to learn this shit for reals, then take Zammit. See him in office hours, do the homework, and study with people, that is the best thing to do if you take his class. His lectures are purposelly paced at lightspeed so that you have to go and learn this shit with other people outside of class. In office hours he is more than helpful and is always willing to do whatever he can to help you out, short of changing your grades illegaly. If you have a tough schedule, his class might push you over the edge, however.

Zammit is a good guy. He likes shirts flannel and his tea iced. He knows what he is doing and he can convey his knowledge to the class supurbly. He teaches from the reaction of the class, he speeds up during easy material and slows down during the hard stuff. He assigns daily HW, weekly lab quizes and three midterms. It can get rough at times, but you will learn the material and you will enjoy it. Zammit is one of the treasured teachers on this campus, just don't let him get in cahoots with Mottman or it will be trouble.

Zammit is a really good teacher. He jokes around with the class and for the first time, made it bearable to sit through a physics class. His midterms are decent, but he curves and you are aloud to cross out one problem for 10 pts(out of 50). I'd definitly take Zammit over all the other 90 year old physics prof's.

He was a good teacher. HE kinda lacked in the explaining things clearly part, but if oyu do his old test problems and go to his office hours to get help on them the class is pretty easy and I hated PHYSICS.

I really enjoyed taking Zammit's class. His lectures are in a very relaxed atmosphere. This chap knows how to teach, though not one of the best physicist / mathematician Ive seen, he is a very talented teacher.

Zammit is sweet, and by sweet i mean he's totally cool. The guy goes through lots of examples in class, but the key thing is he assigns homework which you have to turn in for 10% of your grade, but he provides the answer keys online, so you can check all your work and actually LEARN something. He also drops the lowest midterm(out of 3) so if you screw up you can still make a comeback. I got up at 7am every morning to make it to his 8am lecture, and i'd do it again if he were teaching another course i needed. It's very difficult to get an A however, the class is completely curved. One guy in our class completely owned everyone else, hence there was 1A, 2A- a few B+ and the rest B's all the way down to C's as far as I heard. You had to really screw up to fail or get a D, B's and C's are easily attainable however.

Take Zammit for lab. He only makes you do like half of the lab and you turn in raw data, no lab reports. Take Zammit for lab, period.

Zammit was really good...he's a cool guy and is always willing to help anyone thats in his office hours...u have to take 3 midterms and turn in homework every class period...but he drops the lowest midterm...this helped me a lot b/c i failed the first midterm and still got a B+...however physics 133 is hard so dont expect this to be an easy class

Zammit was a great teacher that always took the time to explain something if it wasn't clicking for you. His tests were not too hard if you did his practice tests. There was a lot of homework, but it helped with learning the material. He is not the typical physics professor and he actually gets out of his office and lives a normal life. His stories will keep you awake during the really boring physics moments.

I must admit, I really didn't like the course. Don't get me wrong, Zammit was a great instructor, and if I were an EE, I would be on top of the world. I just happen to be a CSC, though, and the material has less than nothing to do with my career choice. Just another dumb requirement. In any event, Zammit remains one of my favorite profs here at Poly. He is a nice, laid-back guy who will regale you with stories of his college days if you show up to office hours. In spite of conventional wisdom I found this class infinitely easier than 131 (now 141)--it might have been the teacher, but this material makes a little more sense to me than torques (and EE is more related to CSC than ME, at least, but not by much). His grading system is fairly generous: One quiz every week (including test weeks-that was my only complaint), three tests, and way too much homework. The quizzes usually aren't too difficult--he ended up dropping the two lowest and giving our lab group 10/10 on the other after having botched the question. I found that the easier they were, though, the worse I did--that was annoying. The tests are not that hard, either--he puts old exams on the net, and by looking at those and attending his review sessions before each exam, you can guess what's going to be on them. The homework is hefty, but it really does help in learning the material. He provides all the answers, though, so you can easily check your work and see how it's done. In conclusion, definitely take this teacher if you're an EE because he is a great teacher, and don't avoid him if you're not, because if you take it with Zammit you won't have to take it again. By the way, get him for lab--no more than an hour and a half every time.

this professor wont teach you anything, you teach it to yourself

i agree, listen the curriculum in this class consists of ch. 25- 35 in knights book. you really have to intensly read the chapters like a novel rather than a refrence to do well in this class regardless of the teacher. This is key. So it really doesnt matter what teacher you get because you teach it to yourself anyhow, true for everyteacher. However some teachers only cover ch.25-32, beleive me this makes a huge difference, reading a physics chapter, then understanding it, then doing the homework is very tuff to do when you have to be on top of a chapter a week. get a teacher that doesnt cover the last 3 chapters, this helps so much. Faris is a horrible teacher but he only covers the 1st 7 chapters.

Bitch

this guy just sucks

I am shocked to find such negative reviews of Zammit below. And what wit? "This guy sucks..." I hope this writer realizes that just writing this makes him look like little more than a jackass. If you didn't care for the grading, the teaching style, etc. than tell us, but if you don't have anything to say beyond this, please sit down and shut the hell up. I am angry because these students obviously weren't the cream of the crop and they're slandering a great guy and an excellent teacher. Let me just put it this way: Physics has been my least favorite subject at Poly, and Zammit made it at least bearable, and you know what else? Interesting. Saenz and Poling (my instructors for 131 and 132) presented the material adequately, but not in any sort of interesting manner. Zammit, on the other hand, has a flair and a talent for teaching, and very much honors your effort: if you honestly try, you'll pass. What's more, getting a B is not at all difficult. I especially recommend him if the subject is important to your career (EEs, in particular) because he does relate it to your particular needs. I can't believe someone complained that he covered too much in the class. It's called a curriculum, pal, and besides, the last 3 chapters are covered very lightly. Workload is heavy, but if he can make Physics tenable for me, he can do it for anyone. Don't listen to the slackers below who are pissed about not doing well and listen to me, put in a little effort and take Zammit and then you won't have to retake it, like these goons.

His lectures are 60% fluff and dont teach you the material tested on. It is true he relates the material to applications, but what good is it to know what something is used for and not understand how it works?

read the book, lots of hmk to be done, massive curve for getting a C, and get a hot girl to hit on him.

THe class is just difficult so thats all to it

Zammit is a great guy. He's super funny. He understands students and knows we don't live to go to class and do mindless homework. But he does expect a lot out of you. His class moves pretty fast and covered a lot more material than most the other sections. He drops the lowest test grade (which saved my ass) and he holds reviews before the tests. Go to his office hours and ask questions in class. If you do he'll love you and if not he'll make fun of you in class, which is also worthwhile as entertainment but not so hot for your grade.

3 Exams, and 1 final, and turning in every homework for credit. Thats it. The tests were abnormally hard, the homeworks were long and arduous, and the great thing is it is curved well. Zammit is really really incredibly helpful during office hours and is very flexible to his students. Take him, although he does require a lot of work from the student, its not a bad class to take

There is no b.s. with Zammit. He teaches what we should know and then tests on what he teaches and no random stuff. He makes the lab no pressure at all. usually get out of lab an hour and a half early. 3 midterms drop lowest, quizzes every week, homework due daily, but it is easy. take him if can.

Zammit is a good Professor. He teaches the course the way an engineer wants to see it, becuase that's what he is. He teaches you what you need to know for the test and give you a link to tons of old tests so you know what's going to be on the exam. All you need to do is look at those and your homework and the class is cake. There are three midterms, quizes, homework, and a final. You get to drop a midterm, three quizes, and the homework's even question solutions are posted online. His lab is also pretty good, you have a quiz off the lecture in the first few minutes, they are usually based off the homework and the labs never lasted longer than 2 hours. All you do is write some stuff on a piece of paper and turn it in. You do this mostly just to say you were there. Take Zammit for 133, he's the best instucture for this section.

Zammit is one of the best professors I've ever had. He knows the material inside out and he tries to make it as simple as possible. I have no background in electricity/magnetism and his lectures made it much easier. He's really funny and he's a nice guy who's always willing to help in office hours or after lab. He also holds a review session the night before each exam, which is usually packed, but also really helpful. He lets you use cheat sheets on each quiz and exam. I suggest copying down formulas on the front sides and helpful examples on the back. People who don't like him don't understand that 133 is supposed to be a difficult course. I say, if you have to take it, Zammit is your best bet.

I love Zammit. He is the best physics prof I have had at poly. He is really helpful in office hours and in class. He puts many of his old tests online and gives the solution guide to homework. This is an A so long as you put the work in to do all the old exams online and go to the great study session he holds before each midterm and final. 3 midterms, drops the lowest one. I highly recommend him.

i had zammit for both lecture and lab and i loved it. i always heard about 133 horror stories but with zammit, i think it was the best of the physics series. zammit has the knowledge of portraying this material very well. he likes to use the regular lab manual (which is way better from what i heard from other sections) and eats in front of you during lab... boo! However when he walks around he is very helpful. his old tests do help also!

RonnieZ is a mack. He basically gives you all of the questions to his tests and quizzes because he just reuses his old questions from his PAST 20 YEARS of teaching...they\'re all posted on his blackboard site. So if you can sort through about 500 different physics problems and pick the right ones, you\'re golden! He is kind of a dick about partial credit though I think. He gives you an extra sheet of paper for every test (1 sheet for 1st midterm, 2 for 2nd midterm, 3 for final, etc.) REALLY helpful in office hours (I went almost every time he had them). He is tough, but you\'ll leave his class definitely knowing the material super well (which is good if you have to take EE classes). He\'s a good professor but tough...at the end of the day I do recommend him. He as a person overrides how hard he can be. He\'s a pimp.

Dr. Zammit is a bit hard to understand/follow during lecture, but he is willing to sit down with you and work out problems. He also posts his old tests back from who knows when so you can practice as much as you want. Only catch is he doesn't have the answers and you'll have to go in during office hours to get the answers. Lab was pretty easy. As long as you show up and do your best to understand what's happening, you're good. If you're lost, just pester him the whole time. He held study sessions the night before the 3 midterms and final for any last minute questions. DO the homework! It helps. And the quizzes. Overall, I enjoyed the class. I could have done better but considering what I had going into the final, a B is a good grade.

Zammit is an interesting character. Apparently in this class you do more than any other physics 133 class. You go into AC Circuits and stuff while other classes dont. The one thing i didnt like about Zammit is that his lectures are all over the place. I found my self really confused most of the time in his class. Also theres a shit ton of homework which sucks. As for his midterms, theres 3 with the lowest one dropped. The actual midterm can be hard if you don't study a lot or understand the material, just study off the past midterms he gives you which contain like 200 old test. One cool thing is that he lets you X out a problem on the midterm for an automatic 10/10 on that problem which is fucking awesome and will save your life. Have fun in this class because i stopped caring after like week 6.

Amazing professor. He's interactive and actually makes sure we understand the material. He cuts the stuff that doesn't matter out of labs and makes a complicated subject understandable. Definitely take Zammit.

Zammit made me happy to come to class everyday. What started as a droning lecture always turned into a hilarious joke if you were actually following the lecture. However, Zammit is actually dyslexic which makes understanding some formulas difficult because they aren't always 100% correct. Contrary to what I thought though, this actually helped my understanding of the course because I had to force myself how everything worked together and Zammit would always stop the lecture to answer any question regardless of importance. He's a really nice guy and really loves physics which made me love physics and made this one of the most interesting classes I've taken at Poly because he is constantly relating everything we learn about to the real world.

Zammit is the shit. too bad I'm pretty sure spring 2014 was his last quarter at poly, he's moving to Australia or something. At first I really wasn't a fan of Zammit just because his lectures were very unorganized and he didn't explain very well, but then you realize he is a super cool guy and really cares about his students. He would always explain how we would use this information in the real world, which most professors don't really do. Homework is due every class period which sucks, but it really forces you to understand the material and read the book (because he doesn't really teach everything you need to know). The exams and quizzes were very similar to homeworks, and the lab was super easy; you always get done in around an hour or two. If you want a genuinely cool professor who will teach you applicable real world material, take zammit. warning: you cover much more material than other 133 classes, and at a much faster pace. a good guy, favorite professor so far

Very good teacher. Exams are fair. He comes up with practical applications with his lectures, which makes it more interesting.

OK, this dude fucking rocks. He is an understanding and hard-testing teacher, but if you truly try, you WILL get a relatively good grade in his class. I had him for Lab and Lecture in physics 206, he is a little aloof in lab, not helping all the time, but that's the point of lab, to figure things out, right? If your lucky, you can win an occasional beer, that is, if your over 21. This guy is the man, and I highly recomend him.

He is great guy most of the time but will never win a teaching award. The problem is that he is the only one that teaches this class ever so sorry. The book sucks and the class is super fast paced. Be ready to work for it. The final is out of nowhere. It is all about designing circuits.

Yea, its pretty lame that we B.A. Physics kids have to take this course (and the lecture portion, PHYS 206). First off, we're not EE, which is all this course is. Just boring EE stuff. And Zammit, or Ronnie Z, as he is sometimes called, is far from the best. He wrote the lab manual, which is incredibly hard to follow and is clear as milk. Seriously, everyone is constantly thinking: "What the hell is going on right now? I hate this class. F@#k this." Never taught us how to use any of this equipment. Sometimes he will just leave the laboratory to go get food, when everyone is just standing around trying to figure out what to do, hating the fact that this is such a waste of time. And the equipment, no mater how much Zammit likes it, is crap. He once spent 2 hours at my lab station just trying to figure out why the damn oscilloscope wouldn't work. Maybe I was just inadequately prepared in PHYS 133, but still, this class just plain sucks. PHYS majors: you have to take this, so here's my advice to you. Take the lab with Zammit. It will suck, but you'll probably get a better grade in it than your friends who have Bensky or Hoelwarth.

ZAMMIT IS AWESOME!!! If anyone says otherwise, they are obviously stupid and lazy. He really cares about his students and wants to help you learn!! Go to office hour, become his friend. His tests are challenging but fair. Most people love his teaching style and personality.

Ron Zammit is one of the best professors on campus and possibly the best in the physics department. The fact that bitter little engineers who can't comprehend simple physics come onto polyratings to knock him down says lots more about them than Zammit. The fact that his rating is below 3.5 says more about the nonvalidity of this website than anything else. XYZ

To the senior in 133 below, you are an IDIOT. Enough said, your parents shouldn't have wasted any money on your college education. LOSER! XYZ