My Gatherings and Realizations on Professor Suessmann.

I chose Professor Suessmanns class because that was the only option that I
had left. Even though the reviews here said that his class was somewhat
difficult, his class was the only choice, and so I went ahead and signed up for
his class. I didnt like this so much because it meant that I would have to
commute 30 minutes every day just for his class, as well as the lab portion of
the class, which was with another professor.
I have anxiety, which can get really bad when Im in a room full of people. So
the thought of being in that class for two hours, from Monday through
Thursday (Monday through Friday for the first two weeks), already had
launched my anxiety through the roof (Im just bragging).
From the reviews, I already knew that his class was going to be hard. I
learned that he was going to give out a quiz at the beginning of each class,
and that his tests were quite difficult. I also read that he didnt care about
what the students had to say. I ignored the ad hominem reviews because
those tend to be only the persons interpretation of the professor. Ironically,
this is one of those reviews, but it comes with great tips to make it in his
class.
THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS: The first day of class he just went over the
syllabus, and we were out of there in less than 20 minutes. If I got anything
from the first day, it was that we were going to be quizzed over what he had
gone over the previous day. OK, fair enough.
On the second day, as soon as the class begun, he passed out the first quiz.
Nobody knew what the quiz was going to be over since we didnt learn
anything the day before. The quiz was asking to list four things that arent
allowed in lab, of course I listed four things that werent allowed in lab
open-toed shoes, food or drink, etc. When everyone had turned in their quiz,
he went over the quiz, something that he does after every quiz (make sure to
write down the solution). Surprisingly, there were right and wrong answers
for this quiz; were werent supposed to list four things that arent allowed in
lab, we were supposed to list the four things that arent allowed in lab. No
children under 13 is one of the answers.
So class goes on, and right from the start I noticed that he was going too
fast. Skipping mathematical steps, and expecting everyone to know how he

got from one end to the other. Nobody said anything, so he assumed that we
do knew the material. I never said anything because I didnt want to slow the
class down; I just figured Id catch up sometime after class.
The third day, before class started I went over the problems that he taught
the previous day, just to make sure that I had mastered them. After all, the
quiz was going be over one those problems, right? The answer is NO; the
quiz was over something trickier than what he had taught in class. I was
surprised when I saw that the problem was somewhat more difficult that any
of the problems he had gone over, but I went ahead and tried using some of
the equations that I had memorized. Once everyone was done with their
quiz, he went over it as per ushe. Lets just say that the key to solving the
quiz, hadnt been mentioned the day before. Yeah, it was over something
similar, but totally different really.
FIRST REALIZATION: The quizzes arent over what he taught the class before.
The quizzes are over example problems that are in the chapter from the day
before. Go learn those problems; he will surely pick one of those, and give to
you in the form of a quiz. Make sure to read the small notes at the end of
some example problems, he will pick those sometimes.

For one quiz on waves, the main example in the book basically shows
how to get the length of something-something. On the small note
under the problem it shows how to work the problem backward. He set
up the problem like the one on the main example, yet the wording
asked for what the small note said. I got it all backward.
For one quiz on lenses, the main example in the book we are given the
distance from the lens to the object; however, on the quiz, we are
given the distance from the lens to the image. BUT THATS NOT THE
TRICK, the trick from this quiz is that the focal length becomes
negative if were looking through a convex mirror. That negative had a
significant effect on the answer. He of course didnt highlight this
during class, and when he was giving the solution, he paused for a
moment and made sure we all saw that the focal point was negative,
almost as if expecting everyone to get it wrong. I know what youre
thinking, maybe he had noticed in his previous classes that students
were forgetting the negative, so he decided to emphasize it when
explaining the problem. Right. So, why not emphasize it while teaching
the material?

For one quiz on coils. There was N and there was little n, these are
completely different, but the problems dont make mention of which
one to use. Little n is basically N divided by the distance. This is
mentioned in the book, but neither the book nor professor Suessmann
explain when to use n or when to use N. Of course we assumed
that the number given on the quiz meant little n, but when he went
on to give us the answer, it turns out the number given was actually
N and we needed to take the extra step of diving it over the distance,
to get n. HE SHED LIGHT ON THIS, SO WE WOULD KNOW NEXT TIME.

SECOND REALIZATION: Sometimes hes unfair. He teaches one thing, and

highlights some other things, yet for the quizzes and tests none of that is
important, what is important is what he didnt highlight. He will highlight
certain equations, yet the whole time hes only diverting your attention
from the equation that he was going to quiz you over. (Magician simile
omitted).

For the quiz we had after the whole Big-N-little-n fiasco, he gave us
a similar quiz. Worded almost* exactly the same as the one before,
but with different numbers, and asking for something different. The
first thing that I did was divide big N over the distance given, to
get little n, then continued with the problem knowing that I wasnt
going to fall for that trick again. The equation he wrote on top of the
quiz required us to use little n. After the quiz, he went over it.
Wait, he skipped a step, he didnt divide big N to get little n, I
thought to myself. Luckily, some students in the class stopped him
before he continued with his mistake. No, he replied for this one
we use big N.
But why? The equation asks for n not N, Someone said back.
Its supposed to be capital N, my bad. He said as he looked at the
equation he had provided us. He had written the equation wrong,
and when the quiz came back, even though we had plugged in the
numbers we were asked to plug in, he had deducted points because
they werent the right numbers. Thats unfair.
For another quiz, I forgot to answer one of the questions, and only
remembered after I re-read it on the projector screen. Immediately I
asked him if I could please fetch my quiz to answer the question. He
said no because I had turned it in already. I sit in front of him, and
he saw that I hadnt asked anyone for the answer, yet he refused to

** Not almost but alsome.

let me answer that last question. Which by the way was a plug-andchug question, we had the values, we just needed to plug them in
and calculate. One guy didnt actually know the speed of light, so he
asked the professor, and the professor gave it to him; therefore,
defeating the purpose of the problem, and technically giving the
guy the answer. Yet, I was told that I wasnt able to finish the quiz
because for all he knew I couldve asked someone for the answer.
o First of all: I sit in front of him, and he saw that I didnt even
move.
o Second of all: For all I know basically means there was a
50% chance that I cheated, and a 50% chance that I actually
knew how to solve the problem, yet he chose the 50% chance
that left me worse off. He would rather me fail the quiz, than
me prove to him that I knew the material.
o Third of all: The quiz was over something we had learned two
classes before, TWO CLASSES BEFORE! So, all of us got
screwed because we wasted our time studying something that
we werent going to be quizzed over.
THIRD REALIZATION: He expects you to teach yourself outside of class He will
teach you some problems in class, but those problems are almost never on
tests or quizzes. If you dont have time to read the book, you dont have
time to take the class, he told me after I joked that nobody had time to read
the book. Did he mean to come off as rude? I dont think so, but he definitely
meant his words.
I understand if some students might need to do some reading after class to
better understand whatever problems he went over, and thats up to the
student. However, he will quiz you over stuff that he didnt cover in class.
Stuff that students are required* to teach themselves at home. This leaves
me wondering, whats the point of the class, if its not to learn? Is he only
getting half what every other professor is getting paid? What makes him
think that he only needs to teach some of the stuff during class? He may as
well just tell us what to learn on blackboard, and let us use the two hours of
class time to learn something that he will test us over.
Listen, the only way for this to be somewhat OK, is if he allowed half the test
to be done at home. After all, hes making the actual learning process like
that. I complain about this because it is not fair for students who work, or
who have another four classes to prepare for. Students are already required
** Students shouldnt be required to teach themselves.

to do at least 3 hours of homework per credit hour. If you take 15 hours, you
must have a spare 45 hours to do homework. That rule is ridiculous enough
already, do students need a professor who will ask them to use even more
free time to learn from the book? The answer should be no, but Suessmann
thinks yes.
FOURTH REALIZATION: The final exam is a collection of some of the hardest
questions from test one, two, and three. There are some easy questions as
well, but hell pick the hardest of the hardest for the final. Of course it will be
longer, with the same amount of time to finish. The class before the final ask
him to solve questions from the past exams (the hardest ones), and then
write down the solution, he will most likely put them on the test.

For my final he picked two of the questions that everyone struggled

with in past exams; not only were they hard, but they were time
consuming. He even said it himself when someone in the class asked
him to go over it. In fact, he didnt even go over it completely (because
it was time consuming), he showed the first steps, and from there it
was, as he put it, just plug-and-chug, which turned out to be false.

LAST (PROBABLY FIRST) REALIZATION: Professor Suessmann is a cool person.

In a sense he tells students to let go. I think he even performed Let It Go
from Frozen at some point.* He claims that as long as you show up to class,
that youll pass. Thats probably true, and thats the reason he teaches
students, like myself, to let go. The quizzes are only 10% of your grade, they
wont make as much of a difference as your lab grade will. He does not care;
so, if you decide to beat yourself over grades, then he will sigh and let you
keep doing so because he doesnt care enough to comfort students.
He teaches barefoot, which goes to show that he gives zero vucks.* I dont
know if hell ever this this review. I doubt it. I mean, even if he does, he will
just shrug, and keep going with his life. The whole point of this review is for
students to know what to expect, and also a way for me to cope with all the
anger that all these realizations (except the last one) bring into my life.
Some parts of this review are subjective, such as him being cool, but the rest
are situations that you will most likely come across while taking his class, if
you do decide to go ahead and take it.

** He did not.
** Can people curse on this website?

Suessmann is also very smart, so I dont know if he understands what its like
to not understand physics. He will teach it as if you know the stuff.
DISCLAIMER: I took his summer course. He may or may not have been under
pressure; I dont know if he is any different during his semester-long classes.
He probably is not, but I understand if he couldnt stop to explain a whole lot
of things in great detail because of the time restraint.
TIPS TO TAKE FROM THIS REVIEW:
1. Study the book example problems for the quizzes (read small notes).
2. Study quizzes and example problems for exams.
3. Learn what the SI units and what each symbol or letter stands for. It
will be helpful when letters start repeating.
4. Write down derived and simplified equations. He will only give you the
original equation on exams, but its much easier and faster to know the
simplified ones.
5. Ask questions, and ask again if you dont understand his first
explanation.
6. Read his questions carefully, what is he asking for?
7. Study past exams for the final. He will select questions from those.
8. He allows you one note card per exam, even the final. USE IT.