Week of March 27th

At my Tuesday office hours this week, I had one student attend for help with the conceptual Check Your Understanding questions in the textbook in preparation for the upcoming exam.  On Friday, I had several students over the course of the hour.  Two were stuck on a homework problem from the recent set on fluid mechanics, and the other two wanted to review video checkpoints and book problems to prepare for the exam.  Overall, after clarifying and discussing a few things and working out some examples, the students seemed to understand the things they were initially unsure about.

Week of 3/27

I had two students come to my office hours this week with questions about the homework. They mainly struggled with the concept of angular frequency, and I told them that to convert between frequency and angular frequency you must divide by 2pi in order the make the units correct (rad/sec). We also worked through some homework problems involving light intensity going through a polarizer and analyzer.

Joe Musiol
Broccio MWF 12:00-12:50

3/27-3/31

On Monday, no one came to my office hours. Today (Thursday) I had one student come and I helped him with a few problems from his Lon-Capa homework. Then I assisted two other students with their online homework. One student was struggling to understand completely how to use a ratio but I think after our conversations and explanations about them they understand it better.

Week of 3/27

Office hours were empty this week. I'm expecting that things will get busy again as we get closer to the next exam.

Week of 3/27

No one came to office hours this week. Things should pick up soon since there is a test in a couple of weeks.

week of 3/30

This week I got more students than used to be, they got some question about homework. and I ask the student who comes over my office hour, about whether they are ready for the exam or not, most of them said not really, and I did tell them this exam, historically speaking, will be the hardest, torque, oscillation, momentum, impulse, its something that harder to image for some of the student, but keep it up, the advice I gave them is, make sure your concept is clear, so you will not easily get trapped. good luck!

Week 10

This week I had one student come to office hours on monday, right before the exam. We went over some practice problems and I helped her prepare for the exam. No other students cam to my office hours this week.

Week of 3/20

Tom Reynolds
Physics 175
Dr. Mueller MWF 8:00

This week I had two students come to my office hours.  The first was asking about a Helmholtz coil.  I was able to solve for the magnetic field starting with the Biot-Savart law and show him how to do the integration. We also discussed solenoids in general and the qualities that make one "ideal."  Another student came in asking about para and diamagnetism.  I am always surprised by how disparate the material is between professors. We are not at that point yet and I doubt we ever will be.  I don't think either of the past two professors discussed that in their lectures but when I took the class we did. I was able to answer the questions and then teach it to the student.  Finally on Friday no one came so I helped the other ta in the room who had a lot of students.  I was surprised by that material as well.  They were in algebra based physics but they were studying stress and strain in materials.  This is mostly what I do in my classes now so I was more than prepared to help.
This semester has been fun so far because students are constantly throwing new topics at me.  Sometimes I'll have to do stress/strain while others I'll have to do heat engines in thermodynamics and still other times I get questions on quantum mechanics.  It keeps it interesting.

Week of 3/20

Two students came in with pretty simple homework questions about the Ampere Maxwell Laws, but most questions were able to be answered simply.

Week of 19

This week no one came to my office hours.

Week of March 20

It was a pretty slow week, only 2 students came to my office hours. They both had questions about the online homework problems, and some of the questions overlapped. Most of the questions were more about the calculus involved in the problems, rather than physics concepts so it seems like most students are understanding the current material.

Week of 3/26

This week I did not have anyone at my office hours. Students are currently learning about mirrors and lenses. These topics can be extremely confusing especially during a timed test. The best way to do well is to practice every scenario for mirrors and lenses. Although there are only a few scenarios for mirrors and lenses, if students do not practice ray diagrams, they will make mistakes during the test. Many of the concepts that have to do with light are confusing. While the equations are not that complicated at this point, the actual concepts are difficult. For example, the idea of reflection and refraction can be complicated. Total internal reflection, the speed of light in different mediums, and what different wavelengths of light mean are other topics that are complicated. 

3/20-3/24

On Monday no students came and I was very surprised since Dr. Clark was having his second midterm the next day.  On Thursday, I helped a student from Dr. Clark's class with some homework problems and then I assisted a student from algebra based physics with his homework. He had strong knowledge on the concepts but wouldn't enter the correct solution the system was asking for. For example, it asked for speed and he was entering a negative number (velocity) and was very frustrated why it was wrong.  I noticed the question wanted speed right away and that is why he was having trouble. Four other students were in the room asking similar questions so the other TA worked with them and I stayed with the two students who came before 4 pm.

Week of 3/20

I did not have any visitors for office hours this week. I am hoping that as students get their 2nd exams back they will come in to ask questions or get some help before the final.

Week of March 20th

No one at office Hours this week nothing to comment on

Week of March 20

I had no students come to my office hours.

Week of march 20

No students in office hours this week. I was expecting many on Monday since there was an exam on Tuesday but no one showed. Friday no one showed which I expected since we had an exam earlier in the week.

Week of March 20th

At my Tuesday office hours this week, I had three students come in for help with homework problems.  We managed to work through the first few problems of the assignment, and it seemed like the students better understood the concepts involved, namely springs and oscillations, after working through the problems and discussing the solutions.  The same three students, as well as one other student, attended my Friday office hours.  They had questions regarding the last few problems of the assignment, and we worked through the solutions together, discussing the topics and strategies as we went.  However, this particular homework set seemed to be the most challenging thus far, and I was unable to solve parts of some problems, particularly Part D of Problem 3 and Parts B and D of the last problem.  The students also seemed to struggle more with this assignment.  For the problems I was unable to solve, I asked other UTAs for assistance and/or directed the student to the professor for clarification and further help.

Week of March 20

I had almost 7 students show up for office hours this week with about 3 new faces. The homework was on Simple Harmonic Motion and spring system and there were definitely a good number of tricky questions. However, I was able to help out where I could and there were also other Ta's around to assist. I'll however say, this week had some of the most challenging questions I've had to deal with as a TA.

Week of March 13

I had about 3-4 students show up for office hours this week. The homework topic was on rotational kinematics and dynamics which is a harder topic to comprehend. The homework was also slightly more difficult than usual. However,  and some of the other TA's I worked with were able to work with the students and explain difficult concepts.

Mar 20-24

All time low of students this week, just one person. He came in for homework help which was actually pretty complicated - Dr. Broccio has stopped sending us the homework assignments so it's a bit more troublesome to freeball the questions when we're asked about them in office hours. Unfortunately couldn't solve a problem and had to follow up with him a few hours later via email. Anyway I'm not sure if it's just because morale is low this late into the semester but yeah, attendance is not doing so hot. More to come next week

Week of March 13 & Week of Feb 27

No one came to my office hours in these two weeks.

Week of March 20th

2 students came to office hours this week. One needed help with induction homework, the other needed help with magnetic materials homework. A couple of mistakes were made, but we eventually got to the right answers in the end.

Week of 3/20

Office hours were pretty empty this week, so there's not much to say. I'm guessing things will get busy again as the third exam approaches.

week of 3/23

nothing much this week, I only got a regular student came in on thursday, I got no student on tuesday and wednesday. and she ask me some homework question. I feel the most student struggles is doing algebra, but its fine, because this can improve by doing more practice!

Week 9

No students came to my office hours this week, which surprised me since they have a test on Monday. I guess they'll all show up on Monday right before their exam.

Week of 3/13-17

Well, I had no students at any of my office hours. I guess they understand magnetism very well.

Week of 3/13

Tom Reynolds
Physics 175
Dr. Mueller MWF 8:00

I had no students come this week.  In lecture we got to the demonstration where an magnetic piece of metal is dropped down an aluminum tube and falls slowly.  This is one of my personal favorites.  I just think it's really cool.
I'm not sure if there is another exam for these classes this semester so there may or may not be another increase in attendance at my office hours this semester.

Week of 3/13

This week I did not have any students at my office hours. Students got their tests back this week and started new material, so I wasn't sure how many people I was going to get. Students in the evening class had a better average, so maybe they feel better after this past test. This next chapter's material is definitely harder than the previous two chapters. Part of what makes it harder is that it builds a lot on the material from the previous test such as current and magnetic fields. This means that students will have to have an understanding of these concepts. Hopefully, I will get some students this week.

Week of 3-13-17

I did not see anyone during my office hours this past week

Week of March 13th

I had one student stop by my office hours this week. She had a quick question about the homework, in particular, how to determine the direction of which an induced current flows. I reminded her that the current generated always produces a magnetic field that opposes the original flux, and this helped her complete the homework.

The low number of students this week wasn't too surprising, since the homework was fairly straightforward.

Joe Musiol
Broccio MWF 12:00-12:50PM

Week of March 13

It was a pretty slow week following spring break. Only one group of students came to my office hours this week, with a quick question on a homework assignment involving forces between parallel currents. The major issue was choosing the right equations to use to solve the problem.

Mar 13-17

Had a couple students swing by today, nothing out of the ordinary. Unit 3 is by my experience one of the more difficult units so I expect more people coming in for help. Planning to hold a review session next week or the one after for people that could use help studying.

Week of March 13th

Nobody at office Hours this week nothing to comment on.

Week of March 13

I had two students come to my office hours this week. They needed help on homework problems relating to torque and angular momentum. I showed them ways to approach te problems and useful concepts to remember when rotational kinematics are involved.

Week of March 13th

I had no visitors to my office hours this week. I am hoping next week there will be more students as the next round of exams comes up.

Week of March 13th

This week, no one attended my Tuesday office hours.  One person attended my Friday office hour for help with problems on the ExpertTA homework.  We went over two problems on torque and angular acceleration and one on rotational energy and rotational kinematics.  After doing so, the student seemed to better understand the concepts involved and was able to work them out on their own.

3/13-3/17

On Monday I worked through one homework problem with a student from Dr. Clark's physics 1 class. Today (Thursday) I worked with one student from algebra based physics and then for the final hour, the other TA and I worked with a total of four students. We floated around and helped them with their homework.

Week of 3/13

No one came to office hours this week, but I expect more people to come next week, as induction is a very tricky topic.

week of 3/16

this week technically i only got 2 students, and they ask me a few about homework stuff. To be honest, this part might be the hardest in physics 1, so I hope them can do well. and so far in my UTA session, there aren't too many students come over. I hope it means they don't need help or not available during this time instead of don't feel like coming to my session. but good luck!

Week of 3/13

Several people came to Tuesday office hours with homework questions. Most were students who come to my office hours pretty regularly. Things were quiet on Thursday, though.

Feb 27-March 3

I helped students from physics 0110 during my Thursday hours, some new faces. I assisted them on their homework for algebra based and I did not have any calc based students on Thursday. On Monday, I assisted a student from Dr. Clark's class.

Feb 27 - Mar 3

almost forgot to do a blog post! From what I remember on the Wednesday before break, not many people came in to office hours at all. Not surprising since they just had an exam on Monday. Maybe it's spring break approaching, too. Either way hope attendance is higher next week

Week 8

No students were at office hours. This is not surprising since it was the week before spring break.

Week of 2/27

Tom Reynolds
Dr. Mueller
Physics 175 MWF 8

Last week I had a bunch of students on Tuesday from Dr. Frolov's class.  They had an exam on Thursday so they were getting in some last minute questions.  There were a lot of students there but not so many that I was overwhelmed.  I did, however, have to stay a little late to make sure I answered all the questions. I think this particular session was slowed down by students wanting to see a lot of calculations/ wanting me to check their calculations. For example, one student came in with a circuit and wanted help with Kirchhoff's laws.  I derived all the equations he would need to solve it but he still hadn't found where his work differed from mine, so he wanted to see all the algebra to solve it.
Then, as I expected, things slowed down. The rest of the week I did not have a single student.  Every class had already had their exam so no one needed any help.

Week of February 27

There were exams in all physics 0175 classes this week, so a lot of people came to office hours for las t minute clarification. Many students wanted extra practice so they took advantage of the recommended book problems, so I had a few questions about those problems. I got multiple questions about the right hand rule, unsurprisingly because I remember having trouble with it in the past. Now that I understand it, it was easy for me to clarify it to other students. I heard that this exam was easier than the first, so hopefully everyone did well.

Week of 2/27

There were some people that came in to study for exams. They needed help with circuits and magnetic force. They had some homework questions as well as questions from the book.

Week of 2/27

Many students came in with pre-exam questions, mostly pertaining to kirchoff's circuit laws. I feel like this is an area that is not really explained well enough in most physics classes, so I am glad that I was able to help a lot of students better understand this concept and several other relevant concepts.

Week of February 27th

No students from my Physics 1 class came to my Tuesday office hours.  However, I did assist a student from another Physics 1 professor's class with some book problems on work and energy.  One student attended my Friday office hour for clarification on a homework problem and several "Check Your Understanding" questions from the textbook on impulse and momentum.  After explaining the concepts and working through the homework problem, they seemed to have a better grasp of the material as a whole.

Week of February 27th

No one at office hours this week nothing to comment on

Week of February 27

I was only able to make it for my first 2 hours of office hours this week. This was because I was held up at a previous meeting and unfortunately couldn't make it on time for my last hour. I also lost track of time.
However, I was able to help a couple students during my first session. I had 2 students show up this week and they had questions specifically from the homework which I was able to assist them with. The questions were mostly dealing with momentum and impulse theory and once they understood the concepts and what the question was asking, they were able to figure out things themselves (as usual).

Week of February 20

First of all, I apologize that this post is coming a little bit late.

However, last week I had 7 students show up to my office hours. It was a bit crowded this time especially because I got a couple new faces from Dr. Broccio's Physics 1 class (which I TA). Most, if not all, of the students needed assistance with some of the homework questions. The homework questions were quite challenging this time around so I and the other TAs who were present did our best to explain what we could. I also got other questions from other sources like the textbook from those who were preparing for the upcoming midterm exam 2.
Asides from my normal office hours, I held a one-on-one tutoring session with a student from my class to help go over confusing material and answer other questions she had in preparation for the exam. This session was an hour long approximately.

Week of 2/27

Tuesday office hours were very busy since not all the sections had taken their exam yet. Several people came looking for clarification of certain concepts, mostly involving magnetism, before the exam. No one came to Thursday office hours, probably both because the exam was so recent and because spring break is just a few days away.

week of 3/2

this week I only got one student came in at my very last minute of session, but i stayed extra 30 mins, she ask about question from homework, which is about impulse!
since this week is test week, and especially the week before spring break, so yeah, there is literally no student came at all!
but hope everyone did well in there test, I feel the test is kinda challenging, you have to really know the concept order to ace the test!
have a good break!