Susan M. Lea

I am a physics major. I obviously like physics, but this class was horrible. Some say, that's because she wants her students to learn, but I say if the class everage on the tests is below 40%, something isn't right. I think Dr. Lea lectures better than her book explains though, that's a good part. Her book is horrible, not that it's bad it's not designed for beginners, it's more of a reference book, the problem is my real reference book was ten times lighter than this one. Her tests are hard, but homework is harder, it's pointless to assign such hard problems, cause if we can't do them, we won't learn anything. Maybe if we had all week for them we would, but we have GE classes to take care of. I learned very little from her class, but studied a lot, and probably gained a few white hairs doing so. Before her class I felt confident that I know something, now I feel like I don't know anything. She also has some attitude problems and shows a bit too much pride sometimes, I think, but I don't think she is a bad person. My suggestion is if you want to learn physics and can't devote your life to it, don't take Dr. Lea's class. No matter what she or anyone else says, you don't need to sleep with your physics book to learn physics, especially if you want to have a chance of accomplishing something in your life.

Professor Lea is not as bad as portrayed in many reviews. She treats the lazy students as that and the hard working students with all the respect they deserve. If you study hard and do all the homework you'll do OK in her class. Now the only problem is that you need to study really hard and spend a lot of time doing the homework. This class takes as much time as any 3-3 units classes together. You also need to sacrifice a lot of time to solve the homework. The exams are hard only because you are not allowed to used a formula sheet and many of the formulas are too similar, so you get easily confused. Other than that this class is fine.

Whatever people said about this professor is NOT true. It's not her fault. The subject is too hard. She is one of the best professors at SFSU who has a command of the subject. If you want to succeed in her class, here is a tip: finish ALL the homework problems by Sunday of the week it is due. Don't procrastinate because that's the most likely way to get a minus grade on homeworks. The homework problems are carefully chosen for the tests and for the problems in the class. If you can get over the homework barrier, the class becomes a piece of cake. Don't skip the class. Her lectures are very helpful.

i have to admit, she does know her stuff. but KNOWING something is not as important as being able to teach. a normal teacher will try to help students by trying to teach as well as they could. unlike a normal teacher, she will try to help students by taking points off EVERYTHING, in hopes that we try harder. she has a condescending attitude. and don't EVER try to argue about ANYTHING with her. she refuses to admit being wrong. she spends too much time deriving formulas, but not enough time telling us what they mean. even if you know exactly what you are doing, and are able to solve the problems, she will find a way to take off points for some reason or another. and i don't mean a couple points here and there, i mean MOST of em. EVERYONE, and i mean EVERYONE i have spoken to have said that Burke is more fun, and a better teacher. if you want to learn physics, take Burke. if you want someone telling you how dumb you are at the begining of EVERY CLASS, take Lea.

She is a tough instructor I have to admitt; however if you do the reading on her reading list, you will have an excellent ideas on her lecture. You got to do your reading ahead of time and you got to do your HW problems which I too believe are very difficult. She is very helpful during her office hours and you will find that physics is fun after all. I know that you don't agree at first but believe me after taking three classes with her, I find that she and physics make a lot of sense.

Dr. Lea is one of the most intellegent people I have ever known and is an excellent teacher. She will make you work hard in her class to get a good grade because she is dedicated to having thoughs who pass her class learn. If you put in the time and effort, her classes pervide an incredible chance to learn. I feel that anyone with a strong interest in science should go out of there way to take one of her classes.

Dr Lea presents a very challenging class. Her lectures are unusually math intensive but she is more than willing to put in the overtime to make sure the material is understood. She definately takes pride in what she is teaching.

In the Astrophysics class, she takes strong interest in the students independent study. The homework load is average. The theoretical physics class takes a lot of time, and the general concensus is that itis difficult to get a good grade in.