Howard Trottier - Simon Fraser University

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Howard Trottier - Simon Fraser University

Professor: Howard Trottier

Department: Physics

College: Simon Fraser University

Rating # 1

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A+
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Howard was one of the best profs I have encountered at SFU so far. His passion for teaching is evident and he does everything he can so that his students do well. Due to the nature of the course, you'll have to spend some time understanding the material, but his assignments and tests were always fair. This was a great class, I highly recommend

Rating # 2

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A+
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 1.0

For Credit: No
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took this course out of interest and was not disappointed. Howard is clearly passionate about his field and brought a ton of enthusiasm to every lecture. Exams are exactly what you learn in class, so all you have to do is show up and take notes.

Rating # 3

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Howard is the BEST professor I have in SFU. He is so passionate about Astronomy and his lectures are AMAZING and interesting. He would explain concepts clearly with experiments sometimes. He might speak a little fast but he is always available after class to help you. Totality, totality, totality, TOTALITY !!!!

Rating # 4

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Great teacher, cares a lot about teaching and his students. Quite funny and babble's a little bit but it's not annoying. If your not interested in the subject it'll be very boring and not make a lot of sense but Trottier makes it easy enough to pass and get a decent grade. Lastly, you can get away with not reading anything from the textbook.

Rating # 5

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Howard is an excellent teacher who explains concepts in ways students can understand. He will take any question raised by students and answer it to their satisfaction. I am a Science major so the math portion of the course felt a bit too dumbed down, but overall I really enjoyed his class and would take one with him again.

Rating # 6

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Definitely didn't connect with him as a professor or as a person, but he's very organized and concepts are easy to follow. Would definitely recommend taking astronomy because it was really interesting. It's an easy A-/B+ if you really go over the slides and make notes of the main concepts

Rating # 7

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A+
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I'm an arts student, and took Phys 190 for the Q credit. I'm so hopeless at math that I barely know the times table (lol), and I finished with an A+ in this class. (Granted, I studied pretty hard for the final). As long as you study the lecture content, you will do fine. I read the textbook once... you don't need it. It's mostly all memorization!

Rating # 8

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I took this as a Q credit because im hopeless at math, i was scared that it would be difficult, but if you simply study/memorize the slides and assignment questions AND the breakout questions, you will do absolutely fine as long as you dont cram the day before! Would recc for an easy Q credit!

Rating # 9

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Super passionate about the subject he teaches, and is always available for extra help. Not an easy A but if you study it pays off!

Rating # 10

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I'm a second year and found this course to be better than expected. Dr. Trottier truly knows his subject of expertise and with a little reading before lectures the material is relatively easy to understand. Exams were tough but only if you didn't know the material - no guessing. Overall one of the best electives I've taken!

Rating # 11

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Would recommend

Rating # 12

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

PHYS190 is one wild ride. He is extremely passionate about astronomy but lacks simple explanations for questions and concepts asked in lectures. Expect to study a lot on your own because his lectures are mostly rants about unimportant facts, useless details, or bragging about his rich brother or the observatory. He does have some good jokes though

Rating # 13

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: No
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

If youre taking this course as a GPA Booster, dont. Exams are incredible difficult mainly because they consist of roughly 95% trick questions. Lecture slides are useless as theyre just pictures with occasional words every here and there. He seems like a nice person but the way he writes his exams makes u feel as if this course is a prereq

Rating # 14

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: Audit/No Grade
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I took this course as a "GPA booster" but it was the opposite. His lectures are all over the place. For the midterm, he gives you a practice exam which is sort of useful. But, final exams he gives you practice short answers for prep and for some versions uses the exact same questions, for the others they get hard questions from small parts of book.

Rating # 15

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: Not sure yet
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

The professor isn't bad, he is an interesting man with great passion for astronomy. However, the exams, labs and assignment grade percentage wasn't divided equally and the final ended up being 50%. His lecture notes aren't very helpful to study and prepare for the exam so make sure you take good notes during lectures.

Rating # 16

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: Not sure yet
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Howard is a very nice prof who encourages students to come to his office hours for help. However, his lecturing style is all over the place and its hard to follow and apply to exams. You're better off reading the textbook and learning from Google. Lectures often not relevant to exam material. Exams also consist of many trick questions. Watch out!!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: Not sure yet
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Howard Trottier is very friendly and approachable. However, his lectures are sporadic and unorganized. He gives you assignments to do on Canvas that have little relevance to his lectures. Also, the assignments are MC and short answer and are supposed to help prepare you for the exam but they're totally different as there are lots of trick questions

Rating # 18

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: A+
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: No
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Trottier is an amazing prof. The concepts in this course are fairly simple, and Dr. Trottier makes them fascinating. I took this course in the Spring 2018 term, and can say with absolute certainty the people complaining slacked off, assuming they could do nothing and still do well. Prepare as though it were any other course, and you'll be fine.

Rating # 19

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: B-
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures were disorganized and hard to follow. Talks fast and even completed slides for lectures were scarce making it harder to follow. Im unsure how he won a teaching award? Also constantly changing office hours was rediculous. Astronomy is cool topic but he made me dislike it.

Rating # 20

Overview:

Course: PHYS190
Grade Received: B
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

This lecturer is so lost in his thoughts he doesn't know what he is saying; he does not decide with speed and conviction. He tries to engage students for impact with his breakout questions, but fails. He needs to learn how to organize and plan his office hours 'cause it changes every week. Tests are hard and test your ability to adapt proactively.

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