Cook, Gayle  

First of all Astronomy is supposed to be interesting right! Well, as sweet as Ms. Cook is, she is definitely approachable, and I never (but should've) went to office hours, but feel free. Yet, I dont know how much that would have helped you because she is very random in her lectures, moves quickly, and the tests are easy persay but random...you get a notecard both sides for each midterm (there are 3)...i mean i didn't study that much but I put all the lecture notes on the notecard and got a d on one of her tests. But thats because her multiple choice, i swear have more than one answer...she is just kinda of kooky and knows her stuff, but doesn't explain it well. So if you want an easy a dont take this class!!! Most people are lucky for a b, i mean she does offer extra credit...30pts worth..and there are 3 hw assignments each easy full credit so maybe that will balance my grade, but overall if you like the subject or you want to breeze through dont take this class.

sorry about the last two entries i keep scrolling down wrong! There for ASTRO 101

Althought I received a "C" in Cook's class, I am not giving her a low score because I am angry with my grade. I am horrible at science and frankly, she did not help my learning experience whatsoever. Her lectures were unstructured, boring, and confusing. Somehow she would confuse me on even the simplest of concepts. I would recommend that you don't take this class, or astronomy in general (I heard the other astronomy teacher is horrible!).

Dr. Cook's lectures were decent, her heavy british accent can be very amusing. Tests are 3- 20 multiple-choice questions quizes and 1-20 question cumalative final. You also get a 3X5 on every test. The tests are straight from the lectures, however, the book was helpful in clarifying some of her drawings. There is a bunch of easy extra-credit. If you go to class, study a few hours before each quiz, and do the xtra credit, you cannot get lower than a B.

Cook is such a fun, quirky woman. Her accent alone makes you able to stay awake in class, not to mention her trying to demonstrate rotation and revolution of planets and things using herself and the desk. She gives you many chances for extra credit and there is very little hw other then reading, which isn't even neccessary if you attend class. The hw she does assign she will go over with you in office hours before it is due, meaning that if you put some effort into going to her office hours 4 or 5 times you will get an A on all the hw. Her tests are HARD. She doesn't expect you to memorize any formulas so she supplies them on the board and lets you have a index card cheat sheet on all her tests and still I never got higher then a B on any of them. I don't have any interest in astronomy and some of the information was very boring to learn but about half of it was interesting making the class worth it. Cook loves what she does and loves astronomy which totally reflects in her teaching. If you are willing to put a little work into it, this class can be fun and successful.

She really enjoys astronomy and her enthusiasm is great. The class is graded completely on the curve so it is somewhat difficult to tell where you stand in terms of your grade. She does make graphs after each test to indicate where the scores fall on the curve. She also offers a significant amount of extra credit (although this is factored in before the curve is made). Nice professor, fair class.

I thought that the astronomy class would be mainly based on learning constellations and about planets- but I was very wrong!! There is some math involved and you learn about the planets (very indepth!) and about light rays, rotations, etc.. Her tests were somewhat fair. Some of her questions would be from previous lecture info (that should have been on the last test) or from info we hadn't even covered yet! She was kind of hard to get ahold of (I think she may have gotten sick a lot this quater) but she missed a few classes and even the last day of class. She grades on a curve, so knowing how or where you actually stand in class is not easy. She does give extra credit and let you use 3x5 cards but her tests are suprisingly hard. I am undecided if I would recommend this teacher. I think she did have a hard quarter (because of illness and loss of a friend) but what I saw of her, she wasn't a solid teacher.

Gayle Cook is excellent as both a lecturer and teacher. She clearly loves astronomy, and tries her best to make the students love it too. Her lectures can be really interesting and sometimes even fun! Her tests are fair, but can be difficult. If you put in one REAL night of studying per test, you can do well enough. She lets you have a 3x5 cheat sheet on every test which really helps if you use it. Her only problem is sometimes she isn't very approachable. If a test question is unfair, you REALLY have to argue with her to get it changed. But besides that, I highly recommend Dr. Cook. (By the way, the British accent is EXTRA cool!)

Dr. Cook is a very nice lady who is willing to assist her students in any way possible. The course material can be somewhat difficult and it is sometimes hard to predict what material will be on the exams. There are a total of 3 midterms and then a cumulative final, all worth 100 points. We were allowed one index card as kind of a cheat sheet on each of the midterms and then 3 cards on the final. Then we had a report to do on an article from the Scientific American worth 60 points. For each chunk of material between the midterms, Dr. Cook assigns a homework set worth 10 points. One of the great things about this class was the opportunity for extra credit. Dr. Cook gave 3 different extra credit options available for 10 points each, such as visiting the observatory, writing a song, researching an astronomical device, among others. She was also quite helpful and friendly towards those who were motivated to visit office hours and ask for assistance. All in all, I enjoyed having her as my professor for Astro 101 and would recommend this course over some of the other more time consuming GE courses in area B.

First of all Astronomy is supposed to be interesting right! Well, as sweet as Ms. Cook is, she is definitely approachable, and I never (but should've) went to office hours, but feel free. Yet, I dont know how much that would have helped you because she is very random in her lectures, moves quickly, and the tests are easy persay but random...you get a notecard both sides for each midterm (there are 3)...i mean i didn't study that much but I put all the lecture notes on the notecard and got a d on one of her tests. But thats because her multiple choice, i swear have more than one right answer...she is just kinda of kooky and knows her stuff, but doesn't explain it well. So if you want an easy a dont take this class!!! Most people are lucky for a b, i mean she does offer extra credit...30pts worth..and there are 3 hw assignments each easy full credit so maybe that will balance my grade, but overall if you like the subject or you want to breeze through dont take this class.

Although I was taking this class as an elective, and even though i got an A in it, i don't really think that Dr. Cook's style is very easy to follow or is very interesting. She avoided some topics that i was very interested in; she didn't really explain much about the material, and gave some confusing lectures and tests. I also don't like it when i am able to get an A and not really feel like i earned it. it sorta discredits the university, in my oppinion.

I'm sorry, I didn't get this teacher at all. It felt like she was always lecturing about something that will NOT be on the test. When I asked her a question, she never really answer it. And the homework is sort of a joke. There were some parts of the class that did get me into astronomy though.

Red Face, she has a really red face, is a very nice lady and enjoys Astro, but she sucks at lecturing. Her lectures are super random. They are really hard to follow and much of it is not on the tests, but you never know what could be on them. I will say though, I did not do much of anything in her class and still got a B in the class. Her extra credit is very easy and are deffinetly worth the points. She also wore the same grey shorts all quarter long, kinda strange.

The class is set up with three midterms and a final. The only thing i didn't like about this class was the midterm only about two days before the final. The class was pretty interesting. Read the book, it really helps. Her name is now Iddings. There are also three home work problem sets. They can be fairly difficult. The math problems get a little confusing sometimes. If you go to office hours, she is very helpful and will walk you through the process and make sure you understand everything. There is also a two page paper. The paper was a little difficult, start early. There are many chances for extra credit. I know this really helped me. Overall she was a great teacher and extra credit rules!!!

cook goes through the lessons really fast. sometimes i wouldnt get it because it takes me awhile to get physics concepts, but since i had physics in high school, i did alright on the quizzes and the midterms. she give quizzes on stuff that has nothing to do with the lectures, and that caught me off guard, but its all basically common sense. also, she takes forever to return midterms which gets annoying. You'll do alright if you took physics before, but if you havent, you might have a hard time with her.

Cook is the best lab teacher you will ever have!!! Well.... the best because she lets you out VERY EARLY every time and she basically wirtes the whole lab report on the board for you. Not many lab teachers will do that! You can easily complete the lab experiment and she will help you if you just ask. The lab reports are 10 points a piece and she rarely knocks off any points. I think my lab group got perfect 10's on each report besides maybe one the first ones. I also took her from 6-9 at night and she was an anxious to leave as all of us were. I never once dreaded lab and never once got home later than 8'oclock therfore I never had to miss survivor. :) Take Gayle... her accent is entertaining and labs are waaaaayyy easy!

Her accent is hilarious and it keeps you laughing inside during the whole lecture. She taught the class well and her tests and quizzes were not difficult at all. she didn't factor in the lab grade to you total grade unless you were in her lab section, a definate plus!!! she is a great teacher!!

well, my first quarter here in cal poly, dr. cook made my experience in physics very pleasant. She lectures great, gives the student a firm grasp on not only the concepts but homework problems. She does not collect hw, however she does do weekly quizzes right out of homework, so at least look at it. Office hours are great, she is very understanding and flexible with students. Great teacher for both lecture and lab.

She explains things clearly and tells you what she wants you to do. She also does a good job answering any questions or problems you may have.

Cook was absolutely awesome! I had her for lab, and her lab writeups were basically to copy down what she wrote, fill in your data, and turn it in. If you couldn't get an A in lab, you were doing something really wrong. Her lab kept me from getting a D in lecture. She was straightforward in saying that the labs in the lab book didn't work, so she made up her own, easier labs. We got out at least 90 minutes early every day (except for one; only an hour early), you don't have to come in till half past the hour because of an optional homework question-answer session, and the last lab we were in there for 20 minutes: long enough for the late people to come in, for us to turn in our labs, and for her to say bye. Her lectures in lab were very straightforward despite her British accent, and she knows her stuff. Take her if ever possible! She's awesome!

She is really cool teacher. She is very nice and will take the time to answer all questions. If you're not the type to do homework because it is not collected, don't take her. She doesn't collect homework but gives weekly quizes on a random homework problem. Her tests are straight foward. She's not those teachers that want to trick you or give impossible tests. She wants you to do well. My only negative thing about her is that she'll cancel at least one lecture without telling you.

Dr. Cook is an excellent professor. She presents the material in a way that is very easy to understand. If you do all the homework, then you will ace all of the weekly quized, which will definately prepared you for all the tests. I really enjoyed this class and would highly recomend Dr. Cook to anyone.

Cook is a great teacher. Very clear, and helpful. She understands and listens to students. Very caring and interesting person. she is willing to do anything to help if you are willing. Always has time for you like you're important. Lectures are interesting, quizzes are easy.

Dr. Cook, in the pure sense, is the best of the physics profs that I had at Cal Poly(and I've now finished 131-132-133). Her lectures are pretty damn clear as are her exams. She's also very helpful in office hours. The main problem I had with her is that she cancelled WAY too many lectures throughout the quarter. While some teachers cancel at most 1 or 2 lectures, she wasn't there for about 7-8 lectures. This did throw me off a few times throughout the quarter. I'd finish hw for her class even though I had other stuff to do only to find the class to be cancelled the next day. There were also a few times where she cancelled classes on the day of a quiz. The final in her class was also kind of a mystery because she cancelled all but one of the last week's lectures. Granted, she was going through an emotionally(death of a close friend) tough period, but the information we got for the final was put in rather vague terms. I'd take her again hands down over the other physics profs but expect her to get the flu or go through something ever other week or so.

Dr. Cook is the best Physics profecessor at Poly. Physics is a subject that I hate, but Dr. Cook made it interesting and did a good job of explaining the material. The class has two mid-terms, weekly quizzes on the homework (which she gives you the solutions to) and a final. Also, Dr. Cook is notorious for missing a lot of class so there a few extra holidays when you take her class. Her lab was also pretty chill. She is just as anxious to get out of there as you are, so don't expect to be in lab for more than an hour.

Prof. Cook is a kind and helpful person. She is really useful during office hours. I don't see any reason why a person who studies the material regularly shouldn't get an A in her class. Her quizzes are real easy if you do all the homework problems. She posts solutions online but I always do them first before going through the solutions so that I understand what's going on. If you don't understand a problem, she will help during office hours. If you have had a dislike towards physics, the only way to get a good grade is to ask her questions during office hours. Her exams are moderately hard. Its not because of the questions she asks but the weight she gives for each problem. Her lectures are slightly boring but her examples help. So take notes of the examples and certain points or formulae. Overall, I think she is a great teacher.

1 quiz per week, 2 midterms, and a midterm/final. Gayle is pretty bad at conveying the information in class. I had to rely on her using exact homework problems on the quizzes and test for my study habits, along with teaching myself most of the info. However, if you are good at physics there really is not much to do in this class and can easily skate through. Cook is a pretty laid back englander always with a smile on her face (especially after tea and crumpets).

Her lectures are very straightforward and she will gladly clarify student dofficulties. Her lab sections are even better... even though she basically writes the lab report up on the board for you to copy and turn in to her, you still gain an understanding of the workings of the lab really well. Quizzes once a week in lecture come straight out of homework problems and the test questions are usually modified homework problems. Although she strays from the book's teaching material, she covers the material in a way that is easier to understand.

I like her. She is VERY smart and a darned good teacher. The class material was difficult at times, but she always explained it very well. My Highest Recommendation. Note: She does have a british accent, it makes her lectures fun to listen to :)

Cook is very clear when presenting lecture material. Her notes and diagrams are easy to follow and understand. However, because there is so much material to cover she can lecture quite fast. So you'll have to very quick with your note taking or go to her office hours to get any notes that you didn't take down. She doesn't collect homework but gives weekly quizzes straight from the homework. Her tests are fair because most of it comes straight from lecture notes and some homework. I would think that anyone can do really well in the class if you just keep up with the homework and ask questions on areas that you don't understand.

Dr. Cook is so awesome! she really loves physics and tries to make her students learn and enjoy it too. I really enjoyed her class, she has really helpful office hours, her exams aren't that bad, and her LAB is soooo easy, The Best

Dr. Cook is great. i had her for both lecture and lab. her lab is the easiest ever. she goes over, step by step and pretty much does the lab for you beforehand. just copy down what she writes on the board and turn it in and you get 9's or 10's every time. never had a lab longer than 2 hours, most of them you were out in an hour/hour and a half. lecture she is totally relaxed. she goes slowly and is super nice, easy to understand. weekly quizzes on the homework (straight from the hw, just changes the numbers), which are easy cushions for your grade. tests are straightforward, pretty much like the hw. very nice lady. take her.

Dr. Cook is such a wonderful professor. She knows the subject like the back of her hand and presents the material really well. Her midterms and finals cover the concepts of the course, but what great is that she doesnt make them extremely hard to fail students. As long as you attend her lectures, take good notes and go to her review sessions before tests, you will get a satisfying grade :) I give Dr. Cook 2 thumbs up!

An awesome professor for physics 133. take her! enough said!

lectures more on the conceptual side of physics. if you need to see actual numbers worked through problems don't take her. she makes you work out problems with letters (constants) instead of numbers.

Dr. Cook is probably the best Physics lab instructor at Cal Poly. She allocates the first 30+ minutes of each lab to answering homework questions, and then she writes on the board EXACTLY what she wants on that days lab report (which isn't much). She is more interested in her students doing the experiment and understanding what is going on than how much or how well you write. She then picks a lab group at random and sets up the experiment for them, showing everyone else in the class how to do it. Then your group gets to work, and Dr. Cook makes herself available to answer any questions about or problems with the lab you might have. Very straightforward. For most labs, you will be done in 90 minutes or less. I strongly encourage taking Dr. Cook for ANY Physics lab.

cook's lab was very easy. she did most of the lab write up herself on the board. although she was easy, i learned the same amount of material from her as i did from my previous physics lab instructors with a fraction of the time and effort. that is not saying a whole lot, but if you want it easy, cook is the way to go. she simplified the labs, they were very informal and we were often finished in an hour and a half.

I am not too big a fan of Professor Cook. She is a pretty nice lady, but her lectures weren't extremely helpful. 40% final, 2 20% exams, and 20% for her weekly quizzes which are straight off the homework with the values changed. She writes low on the board, so sit in the front or don't bother. She doesn't alway erase chronologically, so write fast because she'll hurt you there. I would try and take someone else if possible.

Dr. Cook's straightforward lecture style and use of examples makes the material easy to understand, even on topics like relativity. She challenges her students on homework but exams are not as difficult. She is also helpful during office hours, and her knowledge of physics is simply amazing. As to the ASTR 102 comment, if you want a more in-depth and technical coverage of the material you should take 302 instead.

Great teacher!

Fine teacher, but a little dry in the presentation. I wouldnt suggest having her at 8:00 in the morning, might be difficult staying awake.