Demsetz, Elizabeth  

Physics

3.07/4.00

84 evaluations


PSC 101


Junior
B
General Ed
Jan 2012
This class is a joke- the textbook is actually a workbook, and it makes you feel like you're in kindergarten. Which isn't a bad thing, that's why I took it. The experiments are super easy, but not very fun, and the concepts are extremely easy to grasp. That being said, DO NOT MISS MORE THAN 2 CLASSES. She sticks to her attendance policy, NO MATTER WHAT. Even if you have family events or days that you can't miss from the beginning, it won't matter. Don't get sick, don't be late, don't skip. Your grade will suffer. This class was a no brainer, I should've gotten an A, hands down (even after scoring low on the final- be warned of that too! The first 2 midterms are easy, I got A's- the final is long and harder than the others!! Make sure to study a lot). The attendance policy lowered my grade to a B-. Sucks! Just go to every single class and you should be fine.

PHYS 102


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Aug 2004
Dr. Demsetz is one of the most helpful and approachable teachers I have come into contact with. The course content is definitely challenging and she recognizes this. If you go into her office hour with questions she be there with a smile to help you. For an expert in physics she is a very well rounded person and enjoys talking engaging in conversations with her students. If you have to take the physic cluster of 101,102 and 103 make sure to get her at some point!


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Dec 2010
Professor Demsetz is excellent teacher and she truly wants her students to pass. She is very helpful and approachable! I would definitely recommend taking Demsetz. It sucks how people gave her bad reviews, if anything just make sure you ask for help when you need it, because if you don\'t ask for help, you won\'t receive it!

PSC 102


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Oct 2004
Dr. Demsetz is my all time favorite Cal Poly Professor. She made me excited enough about science that I decided to emphasize in physical science just so I could have her for Physics 121 or 122. In 103 I was amazed by her ability to explain concepts in a completely understandable way. She also maintained a wonderful studio-lab atmosphere that was cooperative, respectful, and felt so comfortable that even shy people gave input. She was very helpful in office hours, knew your name, and greeted everyone that came into class. This equals: quality teacher. The homework and tests and stuff are normal so you need to have a teacher that explains things well so you don't have to stress out about the class. She is down to earth, funny, smart, and the exact teacher I would like to be. Take her class if you want a positive, scientific experience.

PHYS 121


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Oct 2007
Only take Dr. Demsetz if you already have an understanding of physics. If you don't understand it you are screwed, she won't re-explain things or produce extra problems for you to try....you just have to learn it on your own out of the book. It is very frustrating becuase she does not give you enough time to copy down the problems and work them out so when you get home to try and study your notes all you have is a bunch of numbers and you can't figure out what they mean. She teaches class VERY FAST. She can talk about a million words a minute which is VERY confusing. I even emailed to ask for extra help and the best she could offer me was to study the book (which I already told her I was doing)....I can't believe that so many people wrote such positive things about a teacher who refuses to help you learn anything!!!!! She seems very nice and happy and I was really excited to take her class in the beginning, but unfortunately if you don't have much of a grasp on physics your screwed.....TAKE SOMEONE ELSE who will help you understand the material.


Junior
C
Required (Support)
Mar 2008
Dr. Demsetz is a great teacher. Her tests are hard, but what physics class doesn't have hard tests. She is definately the teacher you want for physics, you wont regret it!


5th Year Senior
B
General Ed
Apr 2008
Of the 5 years I've been at Cal Poly, I've seen great professors, but she is NOT one of them. For anyone who believes she is the best, I would tell you to re-evalute (maybe you haven't been at Cal Poly long enough to see what a great professor is like). I will keep this short and sweet... she's scatter-brained and all over the place. The material is easy, but she makes it confusing and harder than it should be. I will not go into my personal experience with her, however, I will tell you that it was hell... Be extremely CAUTIOUS of this professor and only take her class if it's your only option!


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Aug 2008
Demsetz is alright. She's kinda like an average physics teacher. She loves it and tries to get her students to love it, but it didn't really work for me. Anyway, my advice to those who take her is to do the homework and show up to class. Homework questions are on the quizzes and sometimes, she gives extra credit if you show up to class on days that most people don't. and extra credit really helps.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Major)
Mar 2011
Her tests are hard as F***!!! Shes a great teacher and very helpful. Go to her office hours and express some interest. Theres lots of homework and lots of studying. Like I said though, her tests are extreamly difficult and if you dont know the material 100%, you wont do well. Shes a tough grader and doesnt give a lot of partial credit. Overall shes a great teacher but her class is very difficult if you have never taken physics before.


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2011
Lizza was awesome! She is so nice and cared about each and every student. She is great in her office hours and gets to know who you are. Class was pretty difficult- her tests were pretty hard and purposely were tricky. I'd take her again!


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2012
Demsetz is a truly phenomenal professor. I had never taken physics before and was honestly really nervous about the class. Ever since the first day, she has explained things very thoroughly and tries her best to make the subject understandable for all of the students. I was a frequent visitor of her office hours, and she was very helpful in explaining things that I didn't understand. Her tests are hard, but she is always willing to go over the questions with you and help you understand where you went wrong. I would HIGHLY recommend her to anyone that has to take physics.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2012
Probably my #1 favorite teacher at Cal Poly so far. She is super sweet and wants SO badly for everyone in her class to do well. She is really good at putting things into terms that you can understand, just be sure to be proactive in getting help because if you get behind (esp in 121) you will probably be confused for the rest of your time taking physics classes. I liked her so much I took a priority just to take her again for 122. I never thought I would like physics, but Demsetz helped me LOVE it. Just know that this subject material isn't going to be easy for everyone, so there will be a very wide range of understanding levels, don't get discouraged if you aren't picking it up as quickly as your classmates. Oh and her tests are hard. Make sure you REALLY understand the material, not just be able to do the problems that she assigned for homework. Overall the most eager to help of any professor I've had so far at Cal Poly


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Feb 2012
She really is a super sweet lady but with that being said her teaching style is subpar...It was my first time taking physics and the concepts were very easy to grasp. We had homeworks and worksheets that we rarely ever went over but it was not helpful because we were expected to use them as study materials, although you won't know if you were doing it right in the first place. Her tests were purposely tricky and much more difficult than the ideas we covered in lecture. Also, the labs were a complete waste of time and often did not come out how they were supposed when she could have explained what is meant to happen correctly in the first place. The average on the final was a 55% so I don't think it was just me...


Junior
A
Elective
Mar 2012
Dr. Demsetz was probably the best and most helpful professor I have had at Poly. I didn't have the easiest time with physics in high school, but the way she taught made the material seem easier. I was literally mad that I bought the book because her protocol sheets drew out how to do problems so clearly that the book was unnecessary. Her midterms are hard, but she does curve a little bit. She really wants her students to do well, and is she is very helpful if you need to see her in office hours. If I take 122, it will only be with her!


Sophomore
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2012
Demsetz is an amazing professor! I REALLY struggled with her exams, they are a CHALLENGE. I got As and high Bs on everything in her class, and then came out with low Cs on the exams. She is a hard grader compared to other instructors. It was really frustrating, but I couldnt have asked for a more compassionate instructor-she really wants people to do well in her class. I may have not done as well as I wanted in her class, but I wouldnt have taken anyone else.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Nov 2012
While Professor Demsetz is a very nice lady and teaches the basics quite well, she does not provide examples of the more challenging problems that she expects the class to understand. This is unfortunate because the three midterms consisted of the more difficult problems which were often not possible to excel at.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2014
Dr. Demsetz is the best professor you can get for Physics! She is clear, fair, and so willing to help. I took a priority just so I could get her again for Physics 122 and want her again for 123. Although it's a tricky class, she really cares about her students and wants everyone to succeed. I have and will continue to recommend her to everyone


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Feb 2014
She is the most easy to understand, methodical physics professor that I have ever heard teach a physics class before. She does not however take it easy on students when it comes to tests or the 100% multiple choice final with NO PARTIAL CREDIT! She is always helpful in office hours, and works with your schedule if need be! But occasionally she forgets that we are not physics majors... We shouldn't be expected to solve the 'hardest' physics problems she can think up. But overall take her if you can!!


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2015
I normally hate Polyratings because I feel like it's always one extreme or the other, but I love Demsetz so much I'm just going to have to sound like one extreme. I had a TERRIBLE Physics experience in high school, so I was truly worried I was going to do awful in this course. However, Demsetz made physics so understandable and logical. Her class is composed of an average of protocol quizzes (she drops the lowest one), three midterms, and a final. Protocol quizzes are based on protocol sheets she hands out in class, which are step-by-step problem solving papers that honestly help you solve any problem related to that topic whatsoever. For the quizzes, she does check to see that you have done every single step, but it totally gets you in the habit of doing those type of problems correctly. I honestly never had to read my book to learn how to do a problem, so don't waste your money and get the PDF from someone for the homework problems. On midterms, she doesn't make sure you show every protocol step, but you still need to show your work in an organized manner. Her midterms were based on homework problems, problems from class, and problems from quizzes. As long as you did your homework, actively paid attention in class, and participated by following along the board problems (and ACTUALLY solving them), I really felt the midterms were fair. And yes, she DOES give partial credit. I got high A's on all three of my midterms without needing office hours (although I've heard she is excellent if you have questions), and truthfully I just did the homework and skimmed the chapter to read the Stop to Think problems (those are usually on the midterms). The final is all multiple choice, so there's no room for partial credit. However, you can solve the problems anyway you like. She also gives a few attendance points every now and then that count as extra credit towards your midterms, so don't skip lecture! Unfortunately for me, I registered for PHYS 122 with priority registration, so I was unable to see which professors were teaching what sections. I would have completely rearranged my schedule to take Demsetz if I could have. Dead serious. (probably am going to crash her office hours next quarter lol). I had a very challenging quarter; I worked 25-30 hours a week, volunteered 5-10 hours a week, and was concurrently taking organic chemistry and evolutionary biology. She formats this class in a way where you can set the class to the back of your mind when you need to be focusing on other things, and then bring it right back to the forefront without any issues. Keeping up with homework will definitely make all the difference when you take the quizzes, so make sure to do that. I dedicated maybe a maximum of 4-5 hours a week on this class (unless we had a midterm), and even that sounds excessive. It's a relaxed class and incredibly informative. I feel so confident now. Overall, Demsetz is one of the best and most compassionate professors here at Cal Poly. She really cares about her students and is incredibly polite if you have questions. Like I said, I never went to office hours, but a few of my classmates did and had great experiences with her. She grades in a pretty timely manner and she's very well organized and flexible (she even pushed our midterm to be the Tuesday after Thanksgiving instead of the Monday after). If you want to hate this professor, than simply don't do the homework, don't participate, don't try to actually understand the concepts, and skip lecture like my classmates that hated her did. Show up, ask questions if you're confused, and you will do amazing!


Junior
N/A
Required (Major)
Jan 2016
Probably one of the most unfair teaches at Cal Poly. She favors boys way more than girls also she is not shy about letting the class know who she favors. One time a classmate of mine finished an exam early and she graded his test while others were still taking their exams and basically announced that he got a perfect score, that behavior is extremely unprofessional. She's very unreasonable and doesn't understand students needs or requests. Her exams are so incredibly difficult NOBODY HAS TIME FOR YOUR STUPID CLASS DR. DEMSETZ STOP MAKING YOUR EXAMS SO DAMN HARD AND LONG. When the class is getting d's maybe you should idk.. maybe shorten your exams. Avoid this teacher if you can.


Sophomore
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2016
The teacher's bias is apparent in her manipulated grading practices. Some students get more points than others for the same work. Listening to her yammer on using way too many words to explain something is agonizing. A class usually consists of going through one or two problems that don't appear on exams. Oh, and the exams have problems that other teachers in the country would likely not use, and there are too many problems for the amount of time provided. Quizzes may have homework problems, but they are sometimes modified with values not included. I don't know what her problem is with the world, but she should retire from this profession, and spare a lot of students a lot of upset. If she favors you for whatever reason, good for you, but you should not be ok with having biased teachers screwing students over in a highly unethical manner. I would recommend avoiding this teacher if possible.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2016
SOOOOO GOOD! So I think that Demsetz is probably the best, if not the only, good intro physics teacher here at cal poly. She does not waste time lecturing on theories or how equations get derived and rather uses class time to work through practice problems. The class has non graded homework problems and two quizzes every week. These quizzes consist of one multiple choice problem and one homework problem (EXACTLY FROM THE BOOK SO DO THE HOMEWORK), and one "protocol" problem. The protocol problems are a way for Demsetz to present physics concepts in a clear way. Before the quiz you will get a "protocol" which is like a list of steps on how to complete a certain type of problem, after working a few examples using the protocol during the week there will be a quiz on which you demonstrate that you know how to do the problem using each step of the protocol. Very helpful!! For each midterm (3 total) you are allowed a notecard to write formulas or examples. These notecards are cumulative and so you will end up with three that you can use for the final. Midterms 1 and 2 are two part exams and midterm three is one day. The final is multiple choice however. Overall, Demsetz's tests are fair and if you are keeping up with the homeworks you should do fine. She is also EXTREMELY helpful in office hours and will explain anything! I think Demsetz is awesome and you should take her if you have the chance!!


Junior
C
Required (Support)
Jan 2017
If you get Demsetz, lucky you! She's a gem. Physics is no joke, though. I personally found her quizzes super easy but the tests hard. (I wasn't in the majority with that opinion.) My big tip for this class is GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Once she gets to know you, she helps you even more. She's super super friendly and enjoyable to be around so office hours aren't painful. Study hard and do the homework and you'll be fine. She even does a little grade curve at the end.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Jan 2017
Professor Demsetz is an amazing teacher. As a first quarter freshman, I was very nervous to be taking college level Physics. However, she was very eager to help her students and you could tell she really cared about them. I went into office hours almost every week and she was always happy to lend a hand. I will admit that her tests were very difficult, but if you take advantage of your resources and aren't afraid to ask for help it isn't too bad of a class.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2017
In all of my time here at Cal Poly, I can honestly say that Professor Demsetz was one of the best teachers I had ever had. Physics is not something that comes naturally for me, but her class made it so do-able. She takes her time in teaching material and can sense when everyone in the class is sort of at a loss. And when someone answers a question out loud wrong, she understands why they would think the answer they said and then take time to show the class why it couldn't be that. In almost every lecture, she sets aside time for everyone to get into small groups and work on worksheets with examples of the stuff we just worked on. And while this is happening she goes around checking in to see if any groups have questions and then at the end of each problem she'll go through it in front of the entire class. Now she does have weekly homework quizzes (but homework is not required) and protocol quizzes, but if you actually do the homework and understand the protocol quizzes, you'll be fine! if you do the assigned homework weekly it will make a difference versus not doing it and then having to catch up before each midterm! Wow, didn't realize how long this would be but I hope you were able to catch a glimpse of the class and how Professor Demsetz is as a teacher. I don't normally do these polyratings myself, I usually just read them aha, but I knew I needed to write one for her! 10/10 would recommend :)


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Jun 2018
Probably the best professor I've had so far at Cal Poly. She genuinely cares about each of her students and makes an effort to get to know them. Very helpful in addressing student questions and tries to be as fair as possible. I took this class as a GE and definitely recommend it.

PHYS 122


Junior
N/A
Required (Major)
Feb 2005
I LOVE PROFESSOR DEMSETZ! I never have had a teacher explain SO succinctly and clearly EVER. She is amazing. I actually understand physics now. A god given gift this woman possesses. TAKE DEMSETZ!


Freshman
N/A
Required (Major)
May 2005
I am currently taking physics 122, and put it this way, I much rather sit through a two hour calculus class than sit though thirty minutes of this professor confusing me on what I had to teach myself.


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
May 2005
the guy below is just crabby. she is a good prof, but a hard grader! do well on the reading quiz and problem sloving quiz each week...they add up and impact your grade. beware of her mult choice on the midterm and final...hard! she is funny and happy in her lectures and will help you a bunch if you go to office hours. i would take her again!


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Sep 2005
Demsetz is a good teacher but her testing logic is all wrong. She will tell you she is there to see how well you do on the test not anything else. Meaning if you freeze on tests even if you can prove to her you know the material you won't do very well. She does not keep class moral up AT ALL and her tests are extremly hard. I've heard she'd not the worst but she sure isn't the best. Maybe she will learn to keep class moral up and decide that it's ok to give students A's and she wouldn't be to bad.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2006
The material is easy but Demsetz makes it so much more difficult.She explains and explains and instead of making the material more understandable, she makes the material more confusing. The fact that her grading is extremely PICKY does not help at all.Study hard for the tests and go to office hours so you know the answers that she expect to see in tests. Any deviation of what she thinks is a correct answer will lower your score a lot. Be precise and write what she wants.


Senior
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2006
Prof Demsetz is awesome, energetic and organized. To the jackass below, it is not the job of the professor to keep up morale or to cater to students' fragile egos. She is not your mommy. Jeez.


Senior
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2006
Dr. Demsetz is an excellent teacher. She is very energetic and her love of teaching is obvious. She keeps things interesting by encouraging class participation. She is great, very helpful and patient during class and office hours. She pratically spoon feeds you during labs with her equation sheets (they detail all the info you need to know about each and every applicable eqn for the class). Also, no quizzes, exams, nor write up in her labs. Her labs serve their proper function by supplementing the lecture material. You MUST attend every lab though and show her you understand what is occuring. She is by far one of the best professors I have had in four years of college now. Keep up the good work Dr. Demsetz!


Senior
C
Required (Support)
Oct 2006
Ok, so Demsetz should be a kindergarden teacher and she'd be amazing. She teaches and GRADES on a "monkey-see monkey-do" basis, so basically if you can't think for yourself, but you can mimic exactly what she does, you'll do fine. Unfortunately, I actually like physics (usually) and know how to think for myself and actually work out physics problems: DON'T DO THIS. If you actually do YOUR OWN work (and even work out the problem correctly WITH the correct answer), instead of memorizing and rewriting HER work...you only get half the points! And for the reading quizzes every week...remember the goddamn colors of the goddamn animals in the examples...don't actually remember something physic's related, oh god no.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2007
This teacher was terrible at keeping class moral up. She also wrote the tests in a very confusing manner. I would avoid her at all costs.....


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Jun 2007
Dr. D was a good professor. She presented the material fairly clearly, and always had a demo to help support her lecture, which was good. At times, it got a little confusing, but not very often, and not for very long. I only got a C because I rarely did my homework. And even without homework I still pulled a C, because most of the material was presented in class. Only real complaint is that during finals week, she only had around 3 hours total of office hours, on Monday and Wednesday, for a Thursday morning final. So clearly, those were packed to the max! It made it hard to ask questions, and get one on one advice, but it was still helpful. The final was super easy though. Overall, a good teacher. She was cool too. She shopped at Borders, and I sold her a book, which means shes a normal, real person! She was neat. And now she knows who I am. :D


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2010
She is an amazing teacher! She explained everything so clear and made the material very interesting. She does grade very hard, but if you read through the chapters and actually try to understand the material, you will do fine. Studying for her midterms is a must. you must go beyond the basics, by working out more complicated problems. Her final is more conceptual than her midterms, so throughout the quarter it is helpful to make sure you really understand the concepts. Good Luck, you will love her class!


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2012
Dr. Demsetz is probably my favorite professor I've had at Cal Poly thus far, which is saying a lot because a) I highly dislike physics to begin with, and b) I have had a looooot of professors. The first thing I like about her is that she teaches lecture AND lab. She is able to coordinate them so that it expands your learning experience; you don't have to constantly play catch-up by mixing two different instructors into one class. Also, she gives you more than enough opportunity to succeed. There are 4 midterms and a final, which may sound like a lot, but each midterm only covers one chapter so it is easy to handle the material and each is only worth 12% of your grade. Most importantly, though, she WANTS you to succeed and does whatever she can to make that happen. She even knows the names of all her students a week into the quarter. How many professors care enough to do that? Great person, great professor, take her if you have the option.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2012
I had Demsetz for both 121 and 122 and my opinion has not changed, she rocks! She really really REALLY wants people to do well. The material isn't incredibly easy, there is a lot of Mastering Physics, there are 4 midterms AND a final and I've heard she has much harder midterms than other 122 teachers. But I love her and wouldn't take anyone else. Super helpful, super compassionate, super awesome


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2013
Demsetz is the best teacher I've ever had at Poly. Her class is hard, as is any physics class, but she does her absolute best to teach it in a clear and involving manner. She is the nicest person alive and is always willing to help you in office hours or if your grade sucks. She knows her tests are hard, so she curves them a TON if it is needed and curves the class as well. Absolutely take her if you can, you will not regret it, especially after reading the polyratings on the other physics professors.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2013
Demsetz was an AWESOME teacher, she speaks about 100 miles an hour but she really makes an effort to notice every student and make sure they understand the concepts. Her class wasn't necessarily the easiest, I got a B and thought I understood everything fairly well, but I had her for both lecture and lab and she made me actually enjoy learning about physics!


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Sep 2013
Dr. Demsetz is amazing. She loves physics and she teaches it very well. She truly wants all of her students to succeed and she is always there to help. She always thinks of creative examples to aid her students in understanding a concept. Her tests will get you! They are not easy. The questions require a lot of thinking and are always multiple steps. She also seems to mark off a lot of credit for careless errors, which is a little annoying. I think her tests might be do-able if she gave more time, but I always found myself rushing to get through all of the problems and as a result, accidentally making mistakes. You can tell it really bothers her when the class doesn't do so well on a quiz or exam, and she will actually ask the class for suggestions. I also felt like she could manage the class a little better by refusing to answer irrelevant questions, since she was almost always running behind when it was time to leave. A lot of the homework questions she assigns are pretty difficult, and she gives homework quizzes, so make sure you know how to do all of them. She makes lab fun and easy– you switch off doing lab reports with people in your group, so you only have to write a report once every three weeks, but make sure you have a good group! Go to office hours if you need help. She is very understanding and helpful. She does get a lot of people though, which is also a little frustrating. Overall, I would recommend taking her class.


Freshman
C
Required (Major)
Apr 2015
Professor Demsetz is a wonderful teacher who explains topics very clearly and with lots of real life examples in class. If you don't understand topics, just ask questions. Show genuine interest in the class (and do your work) and she'll definitely be very understanding if you are struggling. I feel like she sometimes tries to cram too much information on exams, but still tries to make the tests as fair as possible.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Feb 2016
Dr. Demsetz is an amazing woman and amazing professor! She is passionate about physics and her students' learning, and is always eager to help. I am not the biggest fan of physics but having her as a professor made the class pleasant because of her awesome attitude. Best physics professor I've ever had.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2016
Lizza is an awesome teacher, definitely one of my favorites at Cal Poly. She presents the material very well and is very friendly to her students. She cares a lot about your grade especially if the class average is low she will curve it to help you. She's also pretty funny and doesn't make the class stressful at all, plus she takes the time to make sure you know the material then fortifies it in lab. The lab is easy, just a lot of detailed writing for lab(only 3 times for the quarter), not too bad. She likes guys more than girls.


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Oct 2016
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! Many people think her class is difficult, but with a little effort, you should do fine. Unlike other physics labs, she often has students stay the entire 3 hours and solve practice problems. This may seem like an unnecessary burden, but make sure to do it! If you take the time to work through the practice problems, especially when she is around to help you out, you really won't need to do much studying outside of class. I personally didn't read the textbook, but I know some students found it helpful, so it is just a personal preference. If you pay attention during lecture and work through all practice problems in lab, you will do great! I cannot recommend Dr. Demsetz more highly! She is a genuinely kind person and has the student's best interest at heart. Take her class!


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2017
Demsetz is hands down my favorite professor at Cal Poly. I only had her for 122 but her teaching style is my favorite of almost all of my professors. She makes physics extremely understandable and she cares immensely about her students. If you need extra help, she would love to help you and explain it again. She makes it abundantly clear what she needs you to know for the test and there are no curveballs if you come to class and do the homework. She is a really goofy funny lady and will likely make you laugh throughout the quarter.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2017
Excellent professor, highly recommended!!


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2017
Dr. Demsetz is excellent at explaining topics and tends to do a lot of demos to help her students understand. She's also incredibly helpful in office hours. She had three noncumulative free response midterms, a homework quiz almost every week and a cumulative multiple choice final. She allows a notecard with equations on it for each midterm and lets you use all three previous notecards on the final so don't throw your notecards out! If you do your homework correctly you should do fine on the homework quizzes. Her homework tends to be easier than her tests (except for her thermodynamics test - easy). If you've taken chem 128 the first quarter of the class will be really easy if you understood calorimetry. Her tests tend to have tricky problems and take the whole time. Make sure you know what you're doing because you will feel a time crunch! If you have her for lab, there are no quizzes or finals but there are lab reports due each week between you and your lab partners. I recommend just doing the report in lab so you don't have to deal with it later (it's pretty fast). Sometimes she takes lab calculations and puts them on her midterms. FYI she scheduled a midterm on Friday of dead week and wouldn't change it!


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2018
An amazing teacher, she cares about every student and if you are willing to work and go to office hours she will get you an A. She sometimes goes quick but that's the nature of the quarter system, she clears up any questions and is really nice with giving extra credit opportunities if she sees fit. Would recommend professor Demsetz to everyone, amazing teacher and woman.

PHYS 123


Junior
C
Required (Support)
Feb 2007
I didn't do great because I have a hard time understanding physics, but she was an amazing teacher inside the class room and at her office hours. She'll take all the time in the world to help you understand the problems. She wants to be as fair as possible so she pulls problems from the homework so that there won't be any tricks on her quizzes and tests. Definitely take her for a professor, her enthusiam for the subject makes you like physics, even if you don't entirely understand how to solve the problems. There were quizzes every week on the reading and homework, she tells you what to expect. Three midterms and cumilative final. She'll be one of your favorite professors at Poly!


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Apr 2008
Dr. Demsetz is one of the best professors I have had a CP. She loves what she is teaching and makes class entertaining and does not just give you random formulas to use. She is more than willing to help you with anything and go into her office hours to ask questions if you don't understand. This being said, her exams are not easy, but what physics class is? Know the concepts and be able to go one step further on tests. Demsetz is awesome, take her if you can for any physics class!


Senior
A
Elective
Jun 2009
Lab sucks because it's an additional three hours of lecture, but it can be helpful sometimes to really clarify some of the material. Her tests are tough and she grades them hard, but she gives you lots of clues throughout the quarter to prepare you. The tests are way more conceptually based than most physics classes. Just be prepared to be able to explain every detail of why something happens and how it happens. She's a great teacher though and as long as you put in the effort she'll meet you halfway.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Jul 2015
Demsetz is one of the best physics professors at Poly. She was clear and easy to understand in lecture and was excited and informed about the subject. I've had her for 2 quarters now and I'd take her again. The only thing to be careful with is the fact that she gives very low partial credit on exams. So make sure you don't make too many dumb mistakes or you'll lose a lot of credit. Other than that, she's great!


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Nov 2015
Exam averages are low in her class. Also, 1 multiple choice question can be work anywhere from 5-10 points. In other words, if you suck at multiple choice, good luck. Written out problems can be difficult as well, a lot of points can be taken off for minor errors.


Junior
N/A
Required (Support)
Dec 2015
I don't understand why she has such a great Polyrating. She is a very nice lady and a decent lecturer, but I hated how much she emphasized applications that no one cared about. She spent probably two weeks of the quarter rambling about toasters and electric toothbrushes instead of giving us more practice problems. No one in the class was a physics major and therefore no one cared about physics, yet she expected us to have a ridiculously deep understanding of all concepts. Her tests were flat out ridiculous in terms of content. She destroyed people who didn't do the homework with 10 point multiple choice problems that were basically trick questions if you didn't already know the answer. The tests were also very time pressured. I got easy A's in 121 and 122, but despite doing all the homework and all the practice problems she assigned us I will likely walk away from this class with a B- at best. The majority of the class was not passing for most of the quarter. Even though she is very nice and I really want to like her, I would not recommend her as a professor.


5th Year Senior
D
Required (Support)
Dec 2015
Dr. Demsetz is a nice person and she's an intelligent woman but she's a hard professor to work with. She stresses this idea of "fair" when it comes to tests yet many students in her 123 class felt time pressured on her exams. Numerous students complained to her about the length and depth of her tests yet she did not change her exams based on her students' learning curve. The exam averages were in the 60s and she couldn't understand why we were performing poorly. Her exams are tricky and it's easy to make small mistakes in which she will dock off a lot of points. To be completely honest, I wish I took another physics professor my last quarter as Demsetz shows no consideration for student's difficulties or life circumstances. Unless you're great at physics, don't listen to her positive polyratings and take a different professor.

PHYS 131


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2009
Avoid Demsetz at all costs. While she presents material well enough, she expects her students to follow the most ludicrous methods to solve problems. If you get a problem right on one of her exams but miss one simple step in the process, she'll dock you 5 points. She takes points off if your writing is too messy. This happened to me. 11 points off because my writing wasn't perfectly neat. Her exams are overly complicated. Her final is close to 5 times harder than her midterms. I expected to have a good grade in this class, considering I'd had Honors Physics and AP Physics in high school, but it looks like I'll have to satisfy for a C or a D. I'm not entirely sure why they let her continue to teach at Cal Poly, probably a good 3/4 of my class didn't like the way she taught.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2009
This was ONE OF THE WORST PROFESSORS that I have had at Cal Poly. She did not really teach the material, just a method for solving problems. I only got through because i already knew how to do physics, i just needed the credit for school. She grades her tests RIDICULOUSLY HARD and will mark off lots of points if you dont specifically following her methods; you can solve for a problem and get the right answer and get NO POINTS because you didnt follow the specific way that she likes, even if you do show all your work. Absolutely try to get another professor AT ALL COSTS.


Freshman
Credit
Required (Support)
Mar 2009
I took her only for LAB. But i feel like she deserves a good revue. In lab she really helps you out. And is fun. Her labs are long, but they arent boring. As for her lec (i didnt take her) it appears as tho she expects alot. But in the lab she would always be helping her students with "tips" and advice for the midterms. She even helped me out for my lecture. I believe that all these kids complaining, just dont know how bad the other professors are in the physics dept. cough Mottman cough

PHYS 132


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Sep 2009
I had Demsetz for both lecture and lab, and she proved to be an excellent professor in both classes. She knows what she's doing and she can and is willing to answer any question that you throw at her. She is incredibly hard working and makes sure that the entire class understand the material that is being taught before she moves on. With all this said, her class is extremely difficult. If you're taking her, be ready to work extra hard. As long as you understand the material and every homework and test problem well, which isn't difficult because she is right there to help you through anything you don't understand, you'll do wonderfully in her class. I would recommend going to her office hours, because she really appreciates it when students actually care and work hard.

PHYS 133


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Major)
Nov 2004
Dr. Demsetz is a very helpful instructor and conveys the material well. She does a lot of conceptual questions that helps you understand why things are the way they are. Homework is light, a few questions on Masteringphysics and 1 other homework/solution problem a week. 1 reading quiz per week. 2 midterms (pretty hard, but she gave extra credit). Very approachable during office hours. Take her if you want to learn and understand the material!


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2004
Dr. Demsetz rocks! She makes the class fun and interesting. It's easy to learn from her because she really inspires her students and makes me want to learn. She's one of the best professors I've had!


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Jan 2005
She was an awesome professor, and I can honestly say that she was the best teacher that I have ever had. The C that I got was just from my lack of studying.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2006
Prof. Demsetz is probably the best teacher I've ever had. She really cares about students, and if you put the work in you'll get a good grade. Yes she's hard, but you really learn the material well, and her class isn't boring at all. If you care about learning, not just a grade, I don't think there's a better teacher.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2006
She was so awesome. Each lab consists of some group problem solving at the beginning which is extremely helpful because its always a relatively hard problem so it helps your understanding of the lecture material a lot. You do the lab, but there is no lab report due so you can just have fun and follow along and see the cool stuff going on. She's really good at explaining stuff simply rather than diving into theoretical explanations. I wish I had gotten her for lecture too, but oh well. If you only get her for lab, ask questions about lecture stuff you don't understand because she will be able to explain it clearly. By far the best physics teacher I had.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2006
Dr. Demsetz was great! She was very clear, organized, and taught everything very well. I would recommend her for lab and lecture. Class was very fair with quizes once a week that made you keep up on the chapters. Best physics professor!


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2007
one of my favorite teachers... she is really nice, personable and has a good and goofy personality, i really like her. she tries as hard as she can to make the material as easy as possible.... but the derivations are pretty hard. I took this class over a year ago, but i was just thinking about how good she was as a teacher, so i wanted let ya'll know...i think the best phys prof you can get....

PHYS 141


Junior
C
Required (Major)
Feb 2009
Fuck you bitch.... grades fucking impossible on midterms. I had 100s on all the quizzes but when it came to midterms straight c's. Why? because her dildo is shoved way too far up her asshole. She grades on all of the picky shit that most people would think is common sense. Thanks for a shitty year.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2009
Demsetz Physics 141 class was really chill. She gives tons of practice problems in class, and it usually takes up a huge majority of the time. She lets everyone work together and she is extremely enthusiastic to help students out. She is definitely one of those teachers that is doing it because she wants to help students. She was also very patient with people who did not understand as quickly. She will give you a set of problems every week that are not require, however it is extremely important to do these. On every midterm, there were multiple questions directly from the homework verbatim. In fact, on the final, the written questions were all from homework. I would always do all of them the night before tests. I saw a couple comments that says all she does is give you methods for solving stuff....what else do you want? Everything your graded on is being able to do these problems and she doesnt dick around and waste time with other stuff. Definitely take her.


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Mar 2018
She is a wonderful professor who is extremely diligent in lecture and helpful in office hours. There are two quizzes every week which are based on the lectures and assigned homework. Quizzes are easy if you do the homework (not collected), but it can be a lot of work for the week. There are three midterms that come really fast but her polylearn is updated with all the material and practice problems you need to study. Midterms weren't too bad, but the last one is usually during dead week, which can be kind of tricky. The final was hard and was all multiple choice so no partial credit. I had a B average going into the final and then ended with a C+.

PHYS 200


Sophomore
A
Elective
Mar 2017
This class was for the lab corresponding with physics 121. I'm not sure why Dr. Demsetz gets such low ratings here, but she is honestly a great professor that truly cares about her students. I would definitely recommend taking any of her classes.

PHYS 211


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2004
Well...the ratings don't really reflect on what was really going on inside the classroom. Especially the work load, we had 3 midterms, 8 homework assignments, 1 research report, and a final. The 3rd midterm being three days before the final. Now, that's ridiculous... Homeworks were collected and graded extremely "anally", so don't expect to get a full credit unless you show EVERYTHING! Midterms doesn't reflect on what was on the review sheet she passed out... the review sheet simply listed everything we went through (not a really focused on what's on the midterm). Midterms weren't not that bad but she makes you feel time pressured. I put in so much work and had a 80, 87, 92 on the midterms, three 7s and four 8s on the homeworks, and A on the research paper, unknown on the final (but I think I did pretty good) and I ended up with a B+. You tell me if this much work and get punished for not being able to complete the tests (out of time) is really worth it for a B+. Other than that, she's really nice and explained the materials clearly.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Sep 2004
Well...the above person explained it like exactly how it happened... 3 midterms, 8 homework assignments, 1 research paper, and a final. 3rd midterm was 3 days before the final (most ridiculous thing ever), homeworks were graded in the way that you weren't guaranteed to get full credit even if you got all the answers right and showed all the work. All the works have to be EXACTLY like how she wants them or else (red marks)...the review sheet is just a useless piece of crap b/c it just lists everything we learned and wasn't focus toward what will be on the midterms. Pay attention to computer simulations b/c she tests you on those (ghey). Research paper was meaningless, you have to read a scientific paper that even a senior of physics major would have trouble understanding it. Final was long, boring, and some of the questions you look at it and you response with a "WT_". All being all said, here are my grades: Midterms- 87,79,92. Homeworks- 3 sevens and 5 eights (out of eight points), "A" on the research report (no number grade given), and unknown about the final but I think I did good. All this ended up with a "B+"... I think I deserve at least an "A-"... she does play favors too, classmate with same grade but shows up to office hours and get help from her often ended up with an "A-", I am totally tripped out about that. Other than these, she did an excellent job explaining the materials (yep, that was it)


Junior
N/A
Required (Major)
Jun 2006
GO DEER GO!!


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Jun 2006
Professor Demsetz is an excellent teacher, probably one of the best I have had here at Cal Poly. She has a great aptitude for teaching and I would definitely recommend her to any student at cal poly for any class she teaches. She was always enthusiastic about teaching and was well-prepared. She does give a lot of work so be prepared to dedicate a fair amount of time to her class. She gives 2 exams for the entire quarter, and a quiz every week. She furthered my interest in physics and did a great job with teaching the students more about it all the while making it fun. Every student in the class was very enthused and enjoyed the lecture. As far as grading goes, just do your homework (which is easy as long as you check your answers on homeworkmanual.com) and study for the quizzes and you should be fine. You don't even really have to bother reading the book because she teaches so well in class.


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Dec 2007
Dr. Demsetz is the best. She is cool and really nice in office hours. If you dont understand something in lecture, she will make sure you get it before you leave her office. We had 3 midterms (each 25% of our grade), and a quiz everyweek (25% of your grade). The quizzes were exactly the same as the HW, so as long as you do your HW, your quiz grade should be 100%. I really enjoyed the class and if you can take it with her I would, beceause she is cool and plus, the class isnt cumulative, so the last midterm is based on the last material of the class.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Feb 2008
Awesome instructor, makes lectures interesting and explains things very thoroughly.


Senior
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2018
She is very, very clear and able to help. I thought it was interesting how she interacted with us


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2018
Demsetz is very nice and very passionate about physics! Good lecturer when it comes time to look at the material but she spends an extreme amount of time talking about administrative things like assignments during class and reviewing the material from last class. We would usually be 20 mins into a 50 minute class before we started talking about new material. Because of this, you'll fall far behind in the course schedule but she adjusts assignments to make up for it. HW is highly recommended because the weekly quiz was always directly from the homework or worksheets she gives out. Readings were pointless though. Pretty fair grader but show ALL of your work! 3 tests, all of which are non-cumulative and not hard. Would recommend!


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2018
Dr. Demsetz is passionate - a breath of fresh air when it comes to most physics classes. She's always super excited about the material being taught. That being said, she also tends to go into too much detail, sometimes enough to effect the timing of the class. Discussion is always useful and few questions are ever turned away. Her office hours are very useful when they are not crowded - if they are, your question may not be answered completely if at all if you arrived late. Although her grading is always fair, she is a professor that tests for conceptual understanding. NOT just Calculations. Her homework quizzes and tests are difficult if you don't fully grasp the subject being taught. I'd Recommend Dr. Demsetz. If your willing to put in the work, she's an effective professor who's passion adds volume to an otherwise difficult and *sometimes* impossible class.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2018
Absolutely great...Dr. Demsetz is a really nice old lady. Quiz each week even though sometimes there is a midterm the day before/after. Do your homework! Quizzes are based on hw. 3 Midterms and no final (the 3rd midterm takes place in finals week). Take her if you have the choice.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Apr 2018
She's super enthusiastic about the material, really visibly cares about all her students and tries to learn all of their names. I highly recommend Dr. Demsetz!

ITAL 804


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Nov 2016
Business majors: A degree for the intellectually impaired, HA HA.