PHYS 256LOptics Laboratory

53% liked it36% easy63% useful

From 58 ratings and 9 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

• I don't understand how this lab course still exists. It is to my understanding that this course is going to be dropped in the year after mine, and initially I was confused about this. However, after the first two labs, I understand why exactly nobody seems to enjoy this course although there is a 57% liked rating. The lab manual is honestly too vague to retain any useful information (if some), and for some reason there seem be instructions which are OMITTED from the lab manual itself, but still graded. Why? I don't know, but I do know that this cost me the process of writing the actual report. I cannot stress enough about how thoroughly I am unenjoying this course, but seriously, this is…

  Oct 2024 · didn’t like it · 5 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• The lab course wasn't as bad as PHYS256 was, but it still sucked. The labs are boring and finicky, requiring you to hunch over and look through small lenses, make tiny adjustments on crappy instruments, and often count hundreds of minute details. Feedback was ok and the lab reports themselves are okay. However, they took a very long time to be graded. Our TA often told us that reports would be graded by the weekend, but very often the reports were released on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, costing valuable time (reports are due on Fridays). And our section got lucky - another section got Lab 3 (due in early November) back just a week before winter holidays. In contrast, the late policies are very…

  Dec 2022 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• Overall, I was quite disappointed with the way this lab was being run. The labs were extremely time consuming and difficult. Additionally, it felt like the TA's were nitpicking certain areas of the report when they were marking it. For example, in my first lab report, I received a score of 14/20. I had noted the mistakes that I had made in the first lab report, and I had incorporated the feedback into my second lab report. However, the TA's still found areas where they could deduct marks. Furthermore, there was not enough time given to write each lab report. I would recommend taking this lab with a reduced course load. Additionally, the lab exam was also quite difficult. This was my very…

  Oct 2022 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• Labs take quite some time to write. I took it only on Fall 2020, it was very useful to understand the content of PHYS 256 (this course alone without the lab is just a mess and don't take it unless you need to). I feel like I learnt much more from this lab than the lecture course

  Dec 2020 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

• Lab manual is cryptic but the labs are fun when you figure them out. The 2nd lab was very hectic and seemed to have too many things to do in the allotted time, but all the other labs had enough time for you to complete them.

  Jan 2018 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this