Student Feedback

Princeton University GEO371/PHY371 : Global Geophysics

2021

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "How would you describe the overall quality of the lectures?"

Incredible. Super engaging and interesting. Tells a story in each class

Great lecture.

I think the lectures were often a mix of details mathematics and general overview but not always at the correct time. Frederik lectures well and certainly helped to engage the students.

The lectures were informative but only covered two–thirds of the material we needed for the homework. However the lectures were more than enough for the final, so I suppose overall it was pretty middle–of–the–road.

think the lectures were of good quality. They were engaging, though I did get lost occasionally during derivations as some steps would be skipped. Overall I think I learned what I wanted to from the course and feel more comfortable with my ability to build on that information in the future.

Very good. We jumped around a lot and moved at what seemed like a relatively slow pace sometimes but everything was interesting, relevant, and fun to learn. Excellent teaching. Reading was successful in making me more curious about the course material and class participation was a useful exercise.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the guidance of the instructor(s) in preparing you to do written work, comments in response to written work, and the overall value of the papers, reports, exams, problem sets, and critiques to the course."

Good, challenging problem sets.

The homeworks were rather difficult, and I personally did not like the fact that a sizable portion of the material we simply had no way of knowing without teaching ourselves from somewhere on the internet/somewhere among the several books assigned. Some of the questions were very well formed and I kind of enjoyed them, but the ones that came from left field were a little rough.

I think the problem sets were useful and generally quite doable. The TAs were very helpful in understanding what exactly was required in a given problem and walking us through the reasoning necessary. Even after studying though, I did not feel prepared for the final exam. It might be helpful to have an exam–style question as a homework one week where we would be able to get feedback on how we are expected to answer that type of question.

The problem sets were do–able, but VERY time consuming.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the overall quality of the course. What worked particularly well and in what ways might the course be improved?"

I have mixed feelings on the course, but I think overall it was informative and interesting, especially for people highly interested in GEO. It did take a disproportionate amount of time for the homeworks, for the questions that we had to "figure out" on our own, as hunting down a competent explanation on the internet was rather time–consuming sometimes.

I think the course overall was quite good. I learned a lot from the lectures, readings, and problem sets though the final exam was quite challenging in ways I had not anticipated.

The course is technical and a lot harder than it seemed when I joined it. Nevertheless, it was fun!

Made me a better geophysicist! Great pace––– lots of material but biweekly problem sets and class participation made it enjoyable.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "What advice would you give to another student considering taking this course?"

Super cool course. Frederik is engaging, funny, and super super smart. Material can be a lot at times, but the texts are helpful on problem sets and with cementing understanding of lectures. Ask for required/recommended reading, as he didn't give it when not prompted and it was super helpful to have. No midterm, which was daunting as it made the final that much more important, and the final is super qualitative rather than just making you rederive equations and such. This course tells you incredibly intricate stories and can be super rewarding when you keep up with it and really engage

If you want a good review of classical physics with applications to the earth, take it.

Overall a good course. A lot of content to cover and not always clear why you are learning a certain sub–topic or how it relates to our understanding of Earth. Quite difficult to follow if you do not have a background in geology/Earth Sciences, but Frederik is an entertaining lecturer and the course will expose you to some cool topics!

I have mixed feelings about the course, mainly because the homeworks took a while for the sole reason that we had to do our own research to learn how to solve them. Office hours probably would have helped me massively in this regard, which is why I can't be too critical, but I was never able to make it to them (my fault). The lectures are ok, and the professor is knowledgeable about the topics discussed.

Frederik is incredible, truly wants everyone to be interested in the material and succeed as students in his class and beyond.

Definitely go to office hours and work with other students on the problem sets.

This course is hard. Take it if you have a real interest in the material and are willing to put in the time!

Would recommend for anyone interested in planetary science. Lots of great general yet rigorous material. Take entry–level math and physics first, helps to have some prior knowledge of earth science but not necessary. Fun course, great professor.

2019

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "How would you describe the overall quality of the lectures?"

Frederik is an awesome lecturer. There is definitely a learning curve in understanding the Frederik language, but once you get it he's great. He presented the subject matter in an interesting way [...] and constantly encouraged us to explore topics more on our own. He's also a very funny man––it's worth going to class just to watch his antics.

I think the lectures were good. The professor was very engaging and tried to get the class involved by asking lots of questions.

I like Frederik's style because he teaches on a BlackBoard and pays attention to students when answering questions, but he can get too perfectionist with different chalk colors.

Sometimes a lot of material was assumed to be known beforehand, and the fast pace made it quite easy to get lost. Lectures were enjoyable though.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the guidance of the instructor(s) in preparing you to do written work, comments in response to written work, and the overall value of the papers, reports, exams, problem sets, and critiques to the course."

The exam covers the material in the class very well.

The problem sets were very reasonable and did a good job of testing our understanding of the material. I also appreciated that they often connected to the textbook readings and encouraged us to actually check out some of the 5,000 books that Frederik recommended. The essayistic exam was fascinating; I've done a few exams like it, but never for a class that seemed so computationally heavy during the semester. I do appreciate that it forced me to learn the overarching concepts of the course, which frequently get lost in other physics–like courses due to the emphasis on equations and derivations without reflecting on their real significance. The time constraint on the exam was pretty difficult, though––I would have enjoyed it more if we'd had more time (or better yet, a takehome?).

The problem sets can be a bit tricky, but clarification by the professor and the TA is helpful.

The problem sets were very nice, quite difficult but doable.

Most of the questions on the problem sets required a lot of independent work– couldn't find the required material in lecture notes so they were really time consuming.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the quality of the readings and visuals in the course. Did the readings and visuals present the subject matter clearly? To what extent did the readings and visuals stimulate your intellectual curiosity and independent thinking?"

A lot of the readings were really interesting connections to topics covered in class, especially the ones that provided historical context. That's not something I usually get in science classes, and it worked. Frederik's approach to "assigning" textbook readings was risky; personally I prefer more specific assignments, but I guess I have to come to terms with the real world where no one will be telling me which pages to read. Some textbook readings were definitely necessary for the problem sets; others were helpful and even interesting but not strictly necessary. Surprisingly, I actually appreciated that Frederik didn't distinguish between these two categories, as it was better to peruse different books and discuss with my classmates than to look at a specific page and be done with it.

We had no readings or visuals. I acquired many books from the library that Frederik mentioned and that supplemented very well his notes.

Think the course would benefit from short, assigned readings rather than recommendations of whole books/chapters to read.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the overall quality of the course. What worked particularly well and in what ways might the course be improved?"

Frederik is fantastic, the subject material is interesting, and the format is unique. I would have liked problem sets to be returned a bit faster but I know the TA was doing the best he could! Also, it was a bit difficult to absorb the "big picture" during class time alone. Perhaps distributing Frederik's notes earlier would help. I know they're not complete or tidy, but I still found them much more helpful than any other book I consulted in establishing the implications of the things that we derived in class. Can't wait till he finally publishes!

The quality of the class is good, I think the class could do with fewer weird questions and emphasis on the larger themes make sense.

Lectures were fun and learned interesting material, but course often got confusing and the assignments were very demanding.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "What advice would you give to another student considering taking this course?"

This is a great course if you have a good background in physics, whether you're on the PHY or the GEO side of things. Frederik is a wonderful and hilarious professor, the problem sets are effective, and the essayistic exam really makes you think about what you've learned. Just be warned that Frederik will assume knowledge of things that are not technically listed as prerequisites (especially differential equations and Fourier transforms). If you don't understand him, though, don't be afraid to ask: he's very understanding and has a wealth of knowledge about all sorts of topics.

This class is very heavy on concepts as well as math. Expect many concepts of physics to come up. If you are interested to see what the geophysics side of geoscience is like, this is a good class to take.

Frederik is a very nice person but a confusing professor. Lectures can get very convoluted and you have to review extra material for problem sets. Going to the TA is extremely helpful, so definitely do that. I liked the class as it's small, you Frederik is open to be interrupted with questions, and great upper–level physics course.

2017

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "How would you describe the overall quality of the lectures?"

Professor Simons is hilarious.

Frederik has it all: organization, planning, detail, and most of all, humor. Very funny and friendly professor. Also, he goes out of his way to make sure you get one-on-one time if you need it. He will literally spend two hours explaining stuff to you if you ask him. Awesome instructor!

I would always read ahead, which made the lectures much easier to understand. It helped that I had taken differential equations before this course because I was able to easily understand the math involved in our calculations. The lectures jogged my memory about physics I had forgotten and taught me quite a lot of new material that I will continue to synthesize over the next few years as I take more courses in this field.

The lectures were good, and covered a lot of ground. Occasionally, they could move a little too fast.

He does a great job of motivating the lectures and emphasizing the important points of the discipline

HIGH quality, though the style can be very confusing. I think it really takes some active thinking, reading, and creative imagination to understand what Frederik was teaching. There must be a more simple and clear way of presenting the basics, but Frederik's style really draws on the beauty of derivations, patterns, and symmetries. Probably would be much more appreciated if I already knew the material, but exciting nonetheless.

Suuuchhhh a nice guy and really funny. I would have fallen asleep though if it wasn't for his personality. His style is stream-of-consciousness in terms of equations.

Prof. Simons' lecture style is great, his dry wit keeps the sometimes likewise dry material engaging. Lectures were highly math based, which, despite his clear explanations of the math involved, made it initially difficult to connect the material we were learning to what we encountered on problem sets, but upon hearing we were having difficulty following, he agreed to give an outline of where we were going in each lecture before we launched into it. That was quite helpful. I appreciated his philosophy of learning in class, then clarifying with external material at home.

Excellent!

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question:"Please comment on the overall quality of the course."

The best final exam I have taken in a quantitative course--I really feel like it gave me a chance to explain my understanding of the course rather than losing points because I misread a problem, ran out of time, or dropped a negative sign. Other math and physics courses should use Professor Simons' essay format.

Very quantitative, but overall enjoyable

Great course for anyone with solid calc background, especially for GEO and PHY concentrators. Would recommend. Also did I mention that Frederik is awesome?

Great! I definitely enjoyed this course and am inspired to continue taking geophysics courses. I took this course to see if I enjoyed geophysics, and I loved it! Frederik was an amazing teacher and definitely inspired me to push myself and really dig into the material.

A very unique and thought-provoking intro to geophysics

Great course

Interesting material, which I didn't realize until I fully understood the material while studying for the final.

Overall, it was an interesting and well taught course

The combination of lectures and homework worked very well - I went from not knowing much about geophysics, to feeling like I understand the field quite well. Perhaps even better than the individual units, the course helped me understand how general scientific models are structured

Frederik is great

I took this class as a departmental outside of the Physics department. Frederik is great, he's really engaging.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question:"What advice would you give to another student considering taking this course? ."

take but be prepared to decipher Frederik's cryptic style of talking to truly understand what he is trying to say

Take this course if you want an overview of gravity, magnetism, wave propagation, and heat as they apply to planetary bodies, in particular, Earth. Most work during the semester goes into a few problem sets, which are fair and reasonable. Challenge yourself to keep up with Frederik during lecture and you'll get way more out of the class.

I definitely recommend this course! Frederik is a great teacher and really pushes you to learn the material. It is a challenging course, but is very rewarding.

If you are interested in physics or geophysics, I recommend this class. The lectures definitely focus on the beauty of derivations, patterns, and symmetries in the physics and notation, sometimes at the expense of clearly presenting the basic math and geology. Physics, mulitvariable calculus, and linear algebra background are necessary, and some personal reading about the GEO side of things may also be necessary. Also, background in differential equations, spherical harmonics, and spectral analysis will all be very helpful. The more you already know the more you will get out of this course. Although I often felt lost in lecture, by the end of the semester I had actually learned a great deal. And Frederik is a great lecturer and guy in general.

Professor Simons is a great guy. This course is a good intro to geophysics if you have already taken GEO 203 and have a good understanding of introductory physics and math. Knowledge of partial differential equations would also be very beneficial. Be prepared to do a lot of outside reading--Professor Simons will expect you to learn it that way.

Frederik is fantastic, and the problem sets are manageable. It often seemed like the lecture and the problem sets didn't really support each other, so a lot of the physics I had to learn on my own; however, the course was overall worthwhile.

Ask questions outside of class. It's the only way you will learn. Frederik is so funny and nice, and so I don't regret taking the class, but lectures were very puzzling and the reading wasn't really laid out. The material is actually really interesting though and not super tough. I wish I would have known what was going on during the semester rather than right before the final. Go do some of your own reading and you will be fine.

Take good notes, go to office hours.

Take it if you want to know about geophysics. Psets are really practical while lectures seem theoretical.

Psets are (usually) not too hard. Class is much more math than application/theory. Prof. Simons is a great lecturer and was very open to making the changes that the students requested. I think that, the next time that this is taught, it will be a very smooth course.

2013

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "How would you describe the overall quality of the lectures?"

Frederik's lectures are fast-paced, informative, and fun

Very in-depth lectures that build up the mathematics and theory from the ground up.

Frederik is awesome

Lectures were great, Frederik is great, informative, and very passionate.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the overall quality of the course."

This course worked well because Frederik is an engaging teacher who is willing to help students.

Overall, very good course.

Great course - I enjoyed it, and the graduate students were very helpful and approachable.

if i were smarter i would probly love this class so im still going to rate it highly.

I learned so much.

2009

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "How would you describe the overall quality of the lectures?"

I thought he was a great lecturer, his style made asking questions easier than it is in any of my other classes which allowed me to get a lot more out of the lectures classes then I think I normally would have.

Prof. Simons is an excellent lecturer and very knowledgeable. He obviously has a lot of experience teaching this class. His lectures were engaging and clear. I am curious to take more class in the geology dept. I really appreciate his devotion to teach this class in the evening. Thank you so much for caring for our learning.

The lectures were well prepared but also interactive. The professor always welcomed interruption for the sake of the students' understanding. There was a good balance of fill-in-the-blank style participation from the class.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the quality of the readings in the course."

I thought the readings were interesting, I wished I'd have more time to go through all of them, but I really like how papers were handed out in the beginning simply for our interests.

The reading as a supplement for the lectures were very good.

The readings served their purpose: not so much to present material but rather to demonstrate the currency and relevancy of the material we were learning. The contemporary articles gave us a bit of an immersion test to see if we were becoming literate in geophysics.

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the guidance of the instructor(s) in preparing you to do [...] problem sets to the course".

Problem sets are quite good, and help us to learn the material related the class.

I thought the problems sets were a good mix of material we had done in class, material that was covered in the books, and material we needed to work out on our own.

The problem sets were difficult, very difficult.

The problem set were helpful.

The problem sets were interesting and well written. I often only felt like I really learned the material after completing the problem set.

2008 (when it was called GEO320 : Introductory Geophysics)

Every paragraph below is an individual student's answer to the question: "Please comment on the strengths of the course".

The professor has a very strong depth of knowledge on the material and the class is a good introduction to a variety of important tools in the geosciences.

Intensive overview of the subject field. Stimulating topics!

The course was a great introduction to geophysics. It did not assume any prior knowledge of the subject. The clear division between the topics we covered helped.

It was a good overview of the subject matter. It covered everything thouroughly. The professor was very understanding and forgiving of late work.

Lecture was very informative. Good problem sets. No midterm.