Quality of teaching and/or resources at RMIT/Melbourne?

[dc302]

I hadn't done VCE Physics!  Mine was Fundamentals - it goes over Year 12 stuff and then catches up to those who are doing Physics 1.  Difficult course >: so much squished in to 12 weeks.

I hadn't done physics in VCE but I did the normal physics 1 anyway. Spesh helped me a lot though.

[Chromeo33]

Go Melbourne. It is the place to be.

That's the thing! EVERYONE says it's the 'place to be' but they never say why! I've just built up this image of Melbourne being this mystical place where the cream of the crop go to hone their intelligence and become, just overall, better people..

[JinXi]

Didn't do physics in VCE as well. In Monash, cruised through foundation physics with close to 0 hours of study throughout the whole semester, but when I joined mainstream physics in semester 2, I got torn apart..... Would be lucky to scrape through with a pass.

The huge jump in the difficulty of physics hits when you transition from Foundation Physics to mainstream physics, as you compete against other physics students who has a 2year advantage on you. You get lecturers and tutors assuming that you already know said formula and theory and it's just utterly confusing...

That said, we had 4 lecturers for physics in Monash and 1 was great, 2 was reasonable and one was bad (but isn't lecturing any more next year). I wouldn't say that the teaching quality is bad, but the jump in the level of difficulty between foundation physics and sem 2 physics is HUGEEEE.

[simpak]

I hadn't done VCE Physics!  Mine was Fundamentals - it goes over Year 12 stuff and then catches up to those who are doing Physics 1.  Difficult course >: so much squished in to 12 weeks.

I hadn't done physics in VCE but I did the normal physics 1 anyway. Spesh helped me a lot though.

See: my score in methods.
Plus I had a year of Arts in between, couldn't remember how to integrate when I went back to maths D:
Some of the things people were like 'didn't you learn this in Spesh?'.  I SUCK AT MATHS, aaarghhgh, I didn't do Spesh

I think Physics is just really hard to teach to people.  Because everyone has a different level of knowledge and not everybody learns mathematical stuff in the same way.  It probably takes up a fair bit of your spare time trying to go over the stuff in the textbook if you're not amazingly mathematically inclined regardless of where you take your Physics subjects.

[Russ]

That's the thing! EVERYONE says it's the 'place to be' but they never say why! I've just built up this image of Melbourne being this mystical place where the cream of the crop go to hone their intelligence and become, just overall, better people..

It's in a fantastic location, it has better rankings for research, it's campus is (arguably) pretty attractive with good facilities, it has money to attract the best academics and thus the best students etc. That's most of why people think it's the best. Whether it's the best at teaching your course is a different matter, but most people don't choose uni courses based on that.

[stonecold]

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

[Slumdawg]

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

Couldn't agree more... I was talking with a friend about the physics department we concluded this:

- The lecturers are shit.

- The pracs are shit.

- The tutes are shit.

- The actual tutors are shit (mostly masters students who have no idea how to do "simpler" physics).

- The lecture notes are shit.

- The tests and assignments are shit.

I actually can't think of one good thing about it... apart from the relief of finishing it (and hopefully never having to enter the dreaded physics building ever again!).

[Russ]

But most of that is pretty biased, I went into physics having never done it before and whilst there are definitely flaws with some of the teaching etc, I didn't think it was irredeemable. I'm sure someone taking 1st year chem with no background would feel the same, a couple of physics kids I know actually like the faculty *shrug*

[Chromeo33]

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

Couldn't agree more... I was talking with a friend about the physics department we concluded this:

- The lecturers are shit.

- The pracs are shit.

- The tutes are shit.

- The actual tutors are shit (mostly masters students who have no idea how to do "simpler" physics).

- The lecture notes are shit.

- The tests and assignments are shit.

I actually can't think of one good thing about it... apart from the relief of finishing it (and hopefully never having to enter the dreaded physics building ever again!).

Wait, which uni are you guys actually talking about?

[Slumdawg]

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

Couldn't agree more... I was talking with a friend about the physics department we concluded this:

- The lecturers are shit.

- The pracs are shit.

- The tutes are shit.

- The actual tutors are shit (mostly masters students who have no idea how to do "simpler" physics).

- The lecture notes are shit.

- The tests and assignments are shit.

I actually can't think of one good thing about it... apart from the relief of finishing it (and hopefully never having to enter the dreaded physics building ever again!).

Wait, which uni are you guys actually talking about?

Melb uni... and it's physics for biomed that I did.

[JinXi]

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

Couldn't agree more... I was talking with a friend about the physics department we concluded this:

- The lecturers are shit.

- The pracs are shit.

- The tutes are shit.

- The actual tutors are shit (mostly masters students who have no idea how to do "simpler" physics).

- The lecture notes are shit.

- The tests and assignments are shit.

I actually can't think of one good thing about it... apart from the relief of finishing it (and hopefully never having to enter the dreaded physics building ever again!).

Wait, which uni are you guys actually talking about?

Monash uni isn't that different

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

Couldn't agree more... I was talking with a friend about the physics department we concluded this:

- The lecturers are shit.

- The pracs are shit.

- The tutes are shit.

- The actual tutors are shit (mostly masters students who have no idea how to do "simpler" physics).

- The lecture notes are shit.

- The tests and assignments are shit.

I actually can't think of one good thing about it... apart from the relief of finishing it (and hopefully never having to enter the dreaded physics building ever again!).

Wait, which uni are you guys actually talking about?

Melb uni... and it's physics for biomed that I did.

Monash is just about the same (with the exception of one epic lecturer, which we had for 2 weeks only)... and to think I considered majoring in physics after year 12 LOL. Over my dead body

[stonecold]

physics is absolutely shittttttttt

This post deserves numerous likes and accolades!

Couldn't agree more... I was talking with a friend about the physics department we concluded this:

- The lecturers are shit.

- The pracs are shit.

- The tutes are shit.

- The actual tutors are shit (mostly masters students who have no idea how to do "simpler" physics).

- The lecture notes are shit.

- The tests and assignments are shit.

I actually can't think of one good thing about it... apart from the relief of finishing it (and hopefully never having to enter the dreaded physics building ever again!).

YES!  The theme 'shit' is synonymous with the Melbourne Physics department.

I am going to head down there and tear the guy who is in charge of pracs a new one. I have emailed and seen the tool in person 3 times about my missed prac and gave him a medical certificate like 6 weeks ago, and still it is not showing up on the system that I have a medical credit.  He keeps telling me it is fine...it's not fine!!!  Why do other people have a medical credit and not me???  They are doing the bloody marks now too.  I can so see myself getting screwed over and having to go back to the piece of shit Caro building to get it sorted because of his incompetence!  So fucking lazy...not to mention he has the personality of a pea. 

/end rant, although I could go on about the shitiness of the physics department for another six paragraphs...

[paulsterio]

What would first year biology be like for someone who's never, ever done any biology and absolutely knows nothing about it? Would it be a good idea for me to go through a year 12 biology book/notes over summer or is that not necessary?

[dc302]

What would first year biology be like for someone who's never, ever done any biology and absolutely knows nothing about it? Would it be a good idea for me to go through a year 12 biology book/notes over summer or is that not necessary?

It's not necessary but it would help. In melbourne, bio 1 is very similar to bio 3/4 (is what I hear), and those that didn't do vce seemed to find the course somewhat overwhelming.

[Russ]

those that didn't do vce seemed to find the course somewhat overwhelming.

That would be me and it was such little fun. Ended up cramming for it, getting a semi-decent mark and then not being able to study for calc1 because I was so burnt out. If you're going to take bio without a background, just be on top of it. I'm intrinsically slack, so I wasn't, but make sure you understand every concept as it comes up, because nobody will slow down for you