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Professor Mark Laidlaw Reviews

10

Class Ratings

2.3Bad Class
2Hard
2Boring
3Kinda Useful

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Fall 2017

Mar 19, 2021

Comments on the course

Difficult course that is overly theory-driven. Laidlaw is clearly knowledgeable and wrote the course's textbook but does a poor job of relating the material to understandable examples. Most of the lectures were going over complex proofs rather than giving lasting physics intuition.

Advice

Do your best to understand the calculus and algebra behind each proof. Don't be discouraged if you do poorly; this course does not represent physics courses well (they get easier).

Course: PHYS110Grade: B+Attendance: MandatoryTextbook Use: Yes
4

Class Ratings

1Awful Class
1Very Hard
1Very Boring
1Useless

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Spring 2021

Mar 19, 2021

Comments on the course

Honestly one of the worst course I have ever taken. Laidlaw skips steps in his algebra in his lecture videos and overcomplicate things. Also the workload is appalling. Do NOT take this if you can avoid it.

Advice

Just don't take it.

Course: PHYS110Grade: Not sure yetAttendance: MandatoryTextbook Use: No
3

Class Ratings

3.3OK Class
2Hard
3Kinda Interesting
5Very Useful

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Fall 2020

Apr 5, 2021

Comments on the course

Very time consuming course because there is a lot of content to cover. Some interesting content, but it's mostly review if you took physics in high school. Definitely recommend it because taking this class opens so many doors to further STEM courses.

Advice

Practice often and start on assignments early. The book of Worked Examples is your friend.

Course: PHYS110Grade: AAttendance: Non-MandatoryTextbook Use: Yes
1

Class Ratings

3OK Class
2Hard
4Interesting
4Useful

Professor Rating

3OK Prof

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Spring 2023

Aug 2, 2023

Comments on the course

The course is a big jump from Physics 11/12 but is not overly difficult. The exams are worth a LOT of your mark but with adequate studying it isn't too bad.

Course Content

Physics 12 but with calculus

Comments on the professor

I had Dr. Laidlaw and Dr. Martin, both were good it just depends on how you like to learn. Mark posts lectures online that you watch prior to class, and in class is all examples. Travis is more traditional by presenting information for ~%40 of the class then examples for the rest. Both are actually quite nice and humorous, just a bit dry (especially Mark)

Advice

DO THE TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS! Lots of exam questions are from the homework or teaching assignments (extra homework). I had written down 3 types of questions I was not confident in and all 3 were on the final.

Course: PHYS110Delivery: In personGrade: BWorkload: ModerateTextbook Use: Yes
Exam Heavy
1

Class Ratings

5Amazing Class
1Very Hard
4Interesting
4Useful

Professor Rating

5Amazing Prof

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Spring 2021

Jul 19, 2022

Comments on the course

Overall pretty good class; labs are pretty interesting.

Course Content

Pretty heavy courseload, all new material not seen in previous classes.

Comments on the professor

Laidlaw's a pretty good prof; if you actually study enough things usually go ok.

Course: PHYS111Delivery: OnlineGrade: AWorkload: Very HeavyTextbook Use: Yes
Quiz HeavyAssignment HeavyExam Heavy
1

Class Ratings

2Bad Class
3Avg. Difficulty
2Boring
4Useful

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Fall 2020

Sep 10, 2021

Comments on the course

The material itself is not too difficult as it is just like the BC physics 12 curriculum, but the videos were full of proofs and the examples are too easy. The most challenging aspect is that there is no resource for similar quiz problems so you just find yourself redoing somehow easy problems done in lecture videos that don’t really correlate with the difficulty of the quizzes and final exam.

Comments on the professor

Laidlaw is nice in office hours and pretty helpful. However, he mostly replies with mean comments via emails. His response time to emails is very long so don’t expect fast response.

Course: PHYS110Delivery: OnlineGrade: B+Workload: Very HeavyTextbook Use: Yes
Quiz HeavyAssignment Heavy
1

Class Ratings

4Good Class
2Hard
4Interesting
5Very Useful

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Fall 2019

Sep 10, 2021

Comments on the course

Critical knowledge for engineering, questions can be tricky but if you put your mind to it you can do it. The tests will put pressure on you but are doable.

Course: PHYS110Delivery: In personGrade: AWorkload: ModerateTextbook Use: No
Exam HeavyAssignment Heavy
1

Class Ratings

2.7OK Class
1Very Hard
3Kinda Interesting
4Useful

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Fall 2019

Mar 20, 2021

Comments on the course

This was a very tough course if you aren't already a physics buff. You have to be very dedicated and genuinely interested. Tests were difficult. The textbook seemed to help somewhat. And the labs were quite difficult but asking for help is probably the best way if you have a decent TA.

Advice

Go to office hours. He's nicer than you think and will talk to you for hours about physics and other stuff. He was really helpful when I asked questions because I was dedicated to get through this course. He enjoys helping students. He comes off as arrogant sometimes, it's just his personality.

Course: PHYS110Attendance: Non-MandatoryTextbook Use: Yes
0

Class Ratings

4.7Amazing Class
4Easy
5Very Interesting
5Very Useful

Prof: Mark Laidlaw / Spring 2021

Mar 19, 2021

Comments on the course

Laidlaw makes detailed videos and walks you through everything. Even though the course is online during the pandemic, he demonstrates the labs and gives out tips as he comes across challenges. The objectives are clear. The calculus is simple and straightforward. He shows different methods of solving scenarios. If you find yourself stuck, there's typically a solved example in the textbook to work from. Out of all my courses so far, I felt that this was the only course that was "taught" (in that all the materials and instruction I needed were provided). The biweekly quizzes are far less stressful than midterms. Btw the workload is nothing compared to Math100/101.

Advice

Physics makes way more sense with calculus. Skip 102, do 110 or 120.

Course: PHYS110Grade: A+Attendance: Non-MandatoryTextbook Use: Optional