Bennert, Vardha  

I loved the topics of this class and thought she did a good job of teaching it. She's very fair on the tests and grades and doesn't assign too much work. My only dislike of the class was listening to the dumbass questions some people asked, the class was really easy! Expect 2 midterms, a final, 8 online homeworks (EASY=quizlet for almost all), and 2 easy short assignments.

Dr. Bennert is friggin' awesome. Not only is she the sweetest person, she makes astronomy very interesting. The hour classes go by super swiftly and she does not waste a minute. Let me tell ya, this class is no walk in the park GE. You need to try if you wanna get a good grade. However, she makes herself extremely available in her office hour and she has a good sense of humor. If you get a 93% or higher on the final, you get an A in the class. On the first midterm, I received a high B. Second midterm, I GOT AN F! But I studied my ass off on the final and got an A. If you put in the work, you'll be chillin. She's definitely a great professor to take for the GE.

Professor Bennert is AMAZING! She has made this class super straightforward and enjoyable, with no math/complicated calculations in sight. She does a great job explaining all of the concepts, posts her slides on PolyLearn, finds awesome animations to support the content, and is SUPER receptive to students. Even with limited time, she always answers questions and does her best to make sure that everyone is on the page. She holds TONS of office hours and went out of her way to provide extra ones for students before the midterms and final, and she brought everyone candy the last day of class. Very sweet and considerate professor, and does super cool research (legit travels the world doing observations at some of the coolest telescopes on the planet). She provides a link to a free textbook online (more than enough to get the relevant info) and the workbook activities in class are extremely useful (as in you probably won't pass if you don't do them). The two "projects" are so easy they're hardly worth the name, and there's no other homework. Definitely take her if you can, you won't regret it! Most of the people who get bad grades don't come to class, and that's just never a smart move.

She is an amazing person who has great understanding for her students, I highly recommend taking this class.

Professor Bennert was such a wonderful teacher to have this past quarter! She is so sweet and clearly cares about her students. She explains everything very clearly. Overall the class was the perfect amount of work for a GE. You have two midterms and a final, as well as two tiny projects that don't take much time to complete. I would definitely recommend this class for everyone looking for an interesting and fun GE.

Note: This review is for ASTR 101, but there's no option for that on polyratings. Bennert is an excellent professor who knows a ton about astronomy. She is super available in office hours and there were always 10+ kids who showed up to be helped. The class is mostly based on the two midterms and the final, but there is also an assignment to go to the observatory on campus and do a journal on the sunset and how it changes throughout the quarter. This class is based a little in physics and some of the concepts are hard and abstract. DO NOT wait to go to office hours before the test; you need to go as soon as you don't get something. I got an A in the class but it was through a lot of studying. This class isn't a super easy A, but if you're diligent and study you can do it. She'll also help you read your sunset journal before you turn it in and make sure it's exactly what she wants. Take Vardha.

Bennert is a very friendly teacher who loves astro. She has 2 midterms, a final, and a couple easy side projects. Midterms and final were pretty hard. Difficult class, but nice teacher.

Bennert was an excellent professor that presented the material clearly and consistently and stayed very well organized throughout the quarter. The reason people don't do well in this class, I feel, is because they are just unable to grasp the understanding of the things that occur in the universe. There was absolutely no math in her course and it was probably my favorite class to go to. She grades participation by using an iClicker so you should go to class, because you also won't understand it otherwise. Almost everyone in my class was lost the entire time but that's because half of what she says will blow your mind. Just pay attention to the lecture, copy information from the slides, and you'll do fine in the class. Highly recommend this professor!

Vardha is an amazing professor. She is very straight forward with what to expect in her class and truly cares about making a personal connection with her students! Take her for astronomy!!

Professor Bennert is really awesome. Not only is the class really interesting by itself, she organizes the lectures so you don't get bored and are engaged. She really cares about you and is very passionate about teaching. Even though she didn't take attendance, I went to almost every class because I really learned from her lectures. Her grading is fair and she will help out your grade at the end of the year (possible bump from B+ to A- or something) if you go to the planetarium show, so I would recommend that. Homework is only once a week and otherwise there isn't much work besides a few small observing projects. Overall she's great, I would definitely take this class for a GE!

Dr. Bennert is a very nice considerate professor who has a solid understnading of the subject. However, German is her primary language and even though her understanding of english is remarkably strong, communication can be still sometimes be difficult especially regarding questions so it's important to clearly articulate your question if you want a satisfactory response. In class, she explains the theoretical material well but has little time to answer questions about the relatively difficult mastering physics weekly online homework she assigns. I highly recommend office hours if you have her and be sure to study a lot for her material comprehensive tests!

Vardha Bennert is a very nice lady. This was her first year teaching at cal poly. She has a german accent, but her english is not difficult to understand. You shouldn't have any problems with that (maybe just minimal). A in final is A in course. However, that being said, the final is not particularly easy to get an A in. Physics is not a very easy subject to teach because of the speed you have to go at in order to cover all the material. One big plus for her is her lab policy. You finish the lab in class, and you will usually get 5/5. Trust me, that is a big relief. You can't slack off for physics 132 though. She did assign mastering physics, which we all don't like. They were due on thursdays for the beginning of the course, then towards the end we had them due on sundays and such. If you do your reading, pay attention in class, do all the mastering physics, and check lab solutions (recitations), you should get no lower than a B- in this class.

Dr. Bennert is overall a good professor. She really tries to get students involved and this includes requiring everyone to buy an iClicker for $40. This made lectures more engaging but I don't think it was really worth it. She is very aware of student concerns and changed the type of homework she assigned halfway through the course to help. The tests were fair but the final was cumulative and fairly difficult. Overall, she is a good professor for this class.

Professor Bennert is a pretty good physics professor, which is sadly a rare occurrence at Cal Poly. She lectures mostly off of decently-made power points (which she posts on Polylearn, in case you miss a day). She'll frequently pause the lecture and ask questions where you use a voting card to answer, and you also have to turn to your neighbor and convince them you're correct. I thought it was pretty fun and a nice way to work with others. Her exams were a bit rough. Half the class failed the midterm, mostly due to time, but she curved so most of them could get at least a C. The final is comprehensive but mostly about post midterm stuff, so it's not so bad. All in all, a good professor.

The best cal poly has to offer!

I am concerned that I have not learned the the subject matter well.

honestly im surprised she doesn't have a rating in the high 3's. best professor i ever had, period. only got a C because i prioritized this class last, but this C would not be possible w/o her <333

Just do the homework and you will get an A in the class. Her tests and quizzes are insanely straightforward. You will never take a class where there is a stronger correlation between the amount of work you put in and the grade you receive. VARDHA IS BAD ASS

Although I didn't receive the grade I wanted, Dr. Bennert's class is very doable if you simply DO THE HOMEWORK! Almost every quiz/midterm will have problems straight from the homework. Yes, it's a lot of work, but honestly she has NO SURPRISES on exams. PS: do the last problems of the hw set (those are most likely to be on the quiz).

Not well versed in the subject matter.

Pros: It is totally possible to go from borderline failing this class to getting a solid A in this class simply because of her policy that if you get a solid A on the final, you get an overall A for this class. She'll rub that policy in your face for the entire quarter. I was literally one multiple choice away from getting a solid A on her final. Her exams did not have any surprises. Perhaps if I had prioritized this class more, I probably would have easily gotten a better grade. Cons: Didn't seem like she knew the material very well...as in she lacks alternative ways to explain concepts. I did not feel like the lectures were very helpful. It's not like I had a choice to choose this professor.

Not sure this prof. knows the material well. Many details are not explained well.

The quizzes every week were pretty difficult if you didn't do the homework. The midterms were straight forward, but also there's little room for error and little mistakes could cost a big blow to the overall grade. The lab portion was really great and the labs were always due before you left the lab, so never any reports to write at home! I would recommend taking her, as the class overall was interesting but it takes a lot of work to do well and make sure to study hard for the final as it could really save your grade (aka me)

she is so picky about units and every little detail it is insane. if you forget to put on unit throughout the entire problem she will dock you a point. I learned nothing from her lectures and overall they were boring. The only thing she does well is using physical examples to show how physics works. Literally the only thing fun about going to her lecture. Just read the book and do the problems in the book and you will be fine. I would not recommend her though to anyone who just wants to get an answer and be done with the problem and not go through all the derivations of the equations.

Bennert is a very organized and well put-together professor. She is extremely helpful in office hours and is a very nice German lady. She puts EVERYTHING on polylearn which I loved, and she gives fair exams and quizzes. She can be somewhat of a harsh grader, but the questions are fair and if you put down givens and draw a picture you get half points anyway. Overall a great teacher, she prepares you well for later physics classes.

Why is someone with only a superficial knowledge of physics teaching physics 211?

This class involves a good amount of work, with homework every week, two midterms, two small projects, and a final. She makes sure her students have all the resources they need and was very accessible for office hours. You can definitely tell the passion she has for Astronomy, which made class extra interesting and cool! I would definitely recommend taking her for any Astronomy class!

I learned that if I were to take up hunting, I should shoot deer, not bears, because a bear will hunt me back if I successfully wound it. Fascinating! I didnt know that the key to production and operations management was so brutally simple!