For the tests, just use the LON-CAPA questions. The test questions are very very similar to them. Tibor is a funny guy and going to class is not completely worthless.

You do not need the book, the tests are right off the LON-CAPA questions. If you can take the online, go for it, he reads off his slides the entire class and does a few demos. He is very funny, so class is not so bad, but you do have to go for the clicker questions.

Pros: funny guy; pretty good notes; small exams every monday; one large exam (final)

Cons: clicker questions daily, so you need to come to class; weekly homework, and lots of it

Pros: Funny guy.

Cons: Lecture is absolutely useless besides extra credit clicker questions.

This class would have been better with another teacher, you learn very little from lecture especially when he goes on rants (such as a 30 minute rant on cars for a 50 minute class) needless to say we were ALWAYS behind because of him and the information not covered was STILL ON THE EXAM. He NEVER teaches you problem solving methods (we only did this once in class half way through the semester). Lectures consisted of him showing his "demos" which taught you a concept but not how to actually understand and derive equations (they just appear like magic).



He says not to worry about the exams but you should...the exams were always 18 questions of CAPA questions manipulated to be very difficult. The only good thing about the class was that you got your moneys worth on the clicker questions (you do about 3 a day).



What made me mad the most was that I payed for a physics class and to be taught physics and NOT to be entertained which was what he was most concerned with.



Oh P.S the "curve" for the class only works in your favor if you do better than the average of the class, if you don't then it hurts you and doesnt help you

Pros: Weekly homework and quizzes/tests/exams (goes by many names)

Go to different sections, same lecture

Cons: Midterm exam and final exam

Strict lecture schedule

Professor Nagy is very fun-loving. He lieks to show music videos before class, sometimes pertaining to course material and sometimes just for his own pleasure. He was very concerned that some students were clicking in with unregistered clickers that had not been claimed, which shows he is aware of the grades that will not be recorded for some students.



As for the course itself: The lectures do not vary between the two sections, and the weekly homework is due on Sunday nights with the weekly exams/quizzes/tests on Monday. The quizzes/tests/exams have a maximum of 10 questions, sometimes as few as 6. The quizzes/tests/exams are over the week's chapter, so nothing not related to the week's material covered in the lecture. I personally liked this setup as the weekly homework due date forced me to keep up with the material, and the due dates on Sunday nights are a perfect time to make the cheat sheets that you can have on the tests/quizzes/exams.

He is a great prof. very funny and he tries really hard to make it interesting to the students. He does a lot of demonstrations which are pretty interesting. some are really cool. He also really likes to show youtube videos during the 10 mins or so b4 class starts. They are usually funny or interesting. If you want to do well in this class make good cheat sheets and study them to make sure you know whats going on. Some of the questions he asks are tricky and you may have to combine combine cheat sheet problems but thankfully we get the correction exams to do. I bombed the final and I still got a 3.0 in the class. Its not really a difficult class overall. Just make sure you put in a little effort. And you really dont have to buy the book. I spent $95 on mine and opened it once for about 3 minutes. If you need to take this class I would recommend you taking Nagy. He is a great guy. and even if you dont pay attention to lectures you can at least be entertained with his random jokes and demonstrations. Its better than sitting listening to a dry lecture from one of the other profs.

Dr. Nagy is great! He can be really funny and is always helpful. He goes a long ways to help student's learn. He teaches in a student friendly format which allows you to sit back and learn. All his notes are posted on his website so you don't really have to take notes. He also provides hint pages for the LON-CAPA assignments. His class is always a pleasure to attend. He does however like to single out students who are disrespectful to him and cheat however if your not that type then don't worry about it. He is also a very bright guy that will show you worth wile demos which actually help to explain physics related things you will come across in everyday life. I am convinced that he is the LON-CAPA master mind. It seems obivious that he writes most of the problems and he sure knows how to solve all of them. He really is kind of the head guy for physics 231 & 232. If you can get him, go for it!

Pros: - Nice guy, good at explaining concepts

- Class structured with a quiz every monday, no midterms and a final. Many questions taken straight from homework.

Cons: - Homework can be challenging, but there's a forum for every question where know-it-alls post solutions.

Tibor is a great prof, he explains things very clearly, has a great sense of humor, and genuinely seems to enjoy teaching. The homework is much harder than he makes it out to be though, but fortunately you can just follow your classmate's advice in the forum and get all the points without really knowing what you're doing. The tests are almost directly based on the homework, so that's a plus too. You can get up to 5% extra credit from clicker quizzes which happen almost every day, and are pretty easy. I got a 3.5 in this class and frankly had no idea what I was doing.

Tibor is a really great teacher. Instead of going through all the bs math that isnt that hard anyway, he lectures on the actual physics behind things that aren't that bad to learn about. I really appreciated learning real physics and seeing cool demos this semester instead of watching my prof explain the same basic algebra on the overhead every week. Just know how to do the lon capa and youll do fine on the exams. maybe copy down the tricky questions on your cheat sheet for the exam. His hints page clearly outlines every capa problem so even if you cant figure out how to do the problem all you have to do is look it up. bottom line is get tibor f nagy for physics. youll like him and his funny anecdotes enough by the end of the semester to make up for any despise you might have for physics.

The online lectures were great. You could do them when you wanted and if you wanted to review something for an exam you could go back an watch them again. With that being said, LON CAPA problems are given each week and will take you a good amount of time. The 3 midterm exams were quite difficult. It is about half homework, half new material. You do get a cheat sheet for the exams. There is a correction exam given so you are able to gain some points back on your exam. The final, you were allowed 4 cheat sheets (3 from midterm exams, 1 from material beyond 3rd exam and anything else). The final was not too bad. It had mostly old exam questions and a few new items. I suggest getting a tutor if you are struggling. Take action early! It is easy to fall behind.

He doesn't walk you through the steps of how to do problems, he expects you to figure it out for yourself by doing the capa. He will always give you "hints," basically basic formulae that you have to do a little (sometimes a lot) manipulation of. For exams, having a TI-89 and knowing how to use the Algebra > Solve function is a big plus because you won't be fumbling around with the algebraic manipulation that your calculator can do in an instant. This will free up a lot of time so you don't feel so rushed.



This class is fairly tough, as you need to teach yourself most of the material, but it is fair. Getting through with a 3.0 is commendable, and 3.5+ is outstanding.



I'd give him a 3.0, but he gets a 3.5 because he is hilarious.

For those of you who have no interest in engineering, or math or physics, this class sucks. Going to class is virtually pointless, except for the clicker points. I would say at least half the class is screwin around on their computers or doing homework for other classes rather than listening to him. He doesnt explain how to do problems or when and how to use the formulas given. He goes into this long detailed explanation on proving why this formula is correct. Its retarded and pointless because NONE of us are going to use this crap when we are thru with this class.....rant over......other than that, just copy down how to do every capa problem for the cheat sheets you are allowed to make for the exams and you'll be fine.

GREAT prof. Lectures do get pretty boring, but I would highly suggest going to every class, considering you do have iClicker the majority of the days. Homework sets are super easy on LON CAPA because he gives you hints to basically every question, and if there are none classmates often write comments and you can get 100% on every homework for easy points. You get cheat sheets for every exam and I suggest just writing homework problems or other concepts you see in notes. He says it's only one sided but I have yet to see him check anyones sheets to make sure of it. I am not going to say it is an easy 4.0, you do have to work and put in the effort but he is a very approachable teacher, not to mention pretty hilarious

Funny little man. He always has quirky demos that make going to class worth your time, you will not be disappointed you came. He does a decent job of conveying the material, however he does not give any help with the material in question form. He does not give examples of problems in class, and does not go over any sort of problems in class. All exam questions are taken from capa so make sure you know how to do every one, write every one on your cheat sheets if you want. you get 1 for the first midterm, 2 for the second, 3 for the third and 4 for the final sooo pretty much no way you shouldnt at least 3.0 this class. I would take a class with Nagy again if given the opportunity.

Pros: Great Person

Understands material well

gives good notes

good demos

Cons: Does not teach for understanding

Presents the material but really does not prepare students for exams or quizes

The course covers a lot of material. Each builds off the first few weeks so understanding that is important to remember. This course is very very difficult. It is not as simple as learning one formula or two and applying it to a situation, each problem contains many different types of approaches and requires very specific knowledge. The large amounts of online homework prepare you for about half the questions on the weekly tests.

The class is just too difficult.

Nagy was a really funny guy. Although class was boring, he made it interesting and funny. The class itself was pretty easy. You can easily get all of the homework problems right, and you get to make chest sheets for the exams so you just copied down all of the homework problems and you would be ok for the test. The final actually required some thought and understanding because a lot of the problems were brand new, but none of them were too complicated. There was also a curve on the final because the average wasn't high enough and on top of that the grading scale was lowered. If you have to take PHY 231 then try to get Nagy.

Professor Nagy is great and does a lot for his students. While it's true that he doesn't give you examples of how to do problems in class, he makes a "hints" sheet for every single homework set, which clearly explains how to do nearly every single problem. His exams aren't too bad, as long as you know how to do the homework problems, and since you get cheat sheets you can just copy down the formulas for the homework problems and you'll do well. The only tricky ones are the conceptual problems, which tend to show up a lot on exams. Overall, great professor and probably one of the easier ones for physics at MSU.

I took this class online so I only ever saw Nagy for the exams. He seemed like a decently funny guy. The class itself is rough. I feel as though I learned slim to none. I would watch the lectures and have no idea how to do most of the homework. The discussion boards were really helpful, and the help room was okay. Copy all of your CAPA on to your cheat sheets. If you write small enough, it is possible to fit them all. About 65% of all problems on the exams and the final are CAPA problems with different numbers. I'm giving Nagy a 3.0 because he seemed like a decent guy. I'd give the class overall a 1.0.

I actually didn't have him as a prof, I had another guy but my prof so awful and Nagy was the course coordinator so I just started showing up to his lectures and following his notes and my test scores tripled from 24% on our 2nd exam to 79% on our 3rd, I DONT THINK ITS BECAUSE HE IS A GREAT TEACHER, its because he was responsible for making the exams and professors in other sections taught to their own liking while Nagy taught to the exam he creates, I discovered this halfway through the semester in time to at least pass the class, so I give a mediocre rating to a mediocre instructor