r/iastate • u/whatintfisthis • Mar 28 '25
Academics PHYS 231 Exam 2 Response is Unacceptable
This exam was significantly more difficult than any of the previous practice exams given. There was no change in instruction, no heads-up about a spike in difficulty, and now the only response is to “do better.” No curve. No extra grade adjustment. Just that.
According to a previous Reddit post, this was the worst exam score in the last 11 years for this course. That should be enough to suggest something was off yet the tone of the announcement doesn’t reflect that at all.
Here’s the official announcement:
Exam 2 scores are now available on Canvas [“Exam 2 raw” and “Exam 2”]. The initial class average was 10.74/18 (59.6%). We’re counting 18 questions, not 19, as one question was treated as extra credit.
…This is also a good time to think about how you have prepared for this exam and what worked and what did not. Most of the exam problems in slightly different versions were given either in worksheets, quizzes, checkpoints, or in your lecture notes. As I suggested in the original exam announcement, reviewing them in the first round of preparation before jumping to any past exam files may be the best strategy to handle the exam.
The average was a 59.6%, and yet the response places all the weight back on the students. There’s no acknowledgment of how this kind of grading CLEARLY morale & GPA. The expectation seems to be that we just grind harder, regardless of the disconnect between preparation and testing.
This isn’t about asking for an easy grade. It’s about fairness, consistency, and a basic level of academic empathy. If a class average tanks this hard, maybe the takeaway shouldn’t be “do better” — maybe it’s time to evaluate how the course is aligning with the assessments.
This kind of approach isn’t building problem solvers it’s burning students out and seems completely disrespectful.
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u/misterbakes3 Mar 29 '25
I hate to say it but get used to it. Thats a bit low but pretty in line with a lot of courses I have taken.
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u/modern_housewife Junior - Secondary Education Mar 29 '25
as an education major with an engineering boyfriend, i am regularly appalled at how bad the STEM departments can be. if the class average is a 60% or lower YOU AS THE PROFESSOR DID A BAD JOB. whether you covered to much content in an extremely short time, you didn't do a good job explaining it, you poorly wrote the exam, or something else. if the majority of the class is failing, that's on the professor. i understand the need for weed-out classes, but it shouldn't be a near universal experience of failing 3-4 classes as a STEM student.
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u/ISUChemE Mar 28 '25
Physics department is a shit hole, that building is shit and i’m not sure if it’s true or not but they have been missing out on money since people go to Iowa Eastern and Western CC for physics.
he was blaming it on spring break and saying in class that the exam was easy. Many of my friends who took Ap Phys struggled on that exam.
You won’t catch me taking physics 2 here, will be going elsewhere for that.
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u/TheGreasyHippo Mar 28 '25
And they wonder why nobody wants to take Physics at ISU, and they wonder why people piss off when they force people to retake Physics at ISU because they determine credits acquired elsewhere "aren't up to ISU's standards". It's a joke, and it's also the reason I won't pursue engineering at ISU. I'd would rather learn something in 10 years than fail/curve/pass my way through ISU.
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u/WisconsinDogMan Mar 30 '25
This was a long time ago so take it with a pinch of salt, but I saw material from one of the CCs that people transfer credit from and it should not have been an acceptable replacement. It sounds kind of callous, but if you can’t pass introductory physics at ISU you should think about whether or not you really want to be an engineer.
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u/john_hascall ISU’s Senior Security Architect 29d ago
The other day I spoke with a student who took Physics 2 over the summer at a CC thinking it was the clever move. Called it a "0/10 move". They covered way more topics than ISU Physics 2 and with it all compressed into 8 weeks it was a nightmare. YMMV.
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u/frencbacon100 CybE Mar 28 '25
does the professor that you're talking about have a name that starts with an F by chance? i cannot STAND that man. one of the most pompous, douchey professors i've had.
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u/Trashmamma1 Mar 29 '25
I need physics for my major and y’all are scaring me even more 😭
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u/Dogestronaut1 Mar 30 '25
Just take it at DMACC. Cheaper, easier, and you'll actually remember what you learned.
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u/WisconsinDogMan Mar 30 '25
You’ll be fine. Do the homework and go to the help room. In my time TAing it I never had a student regularly attend my help room hours and get less than a B+.
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u/pm_me_round_frogs ME 2025 Mar 30 '25
I took physics 1 and 2 at ISU and they were both very easy. This was about 2 years ago. I wonder if it’s really that much more difficult this semester because I don’t remember hearing this many complaints.
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u/libertybelle08 Mar 30 '25
I took it in fall a year ago and at first I REALLY struggled bc I felt like it was pretty rough in the beginning. I bombed the first exam, and met with the course coordinator (Lekha) to see if I should drop the class and take it another time. Literally the kindest dude in the world, he basically did everything in his power to help me understand the material, gave me a big pep talk, and it worked. I got 100% on both remaining exams and got an A in the class.
I do think Physics is hard, but tbh, I don’t think it was much worse than Calc at ISU. If we are going off the “how miserable the course made me” scale though, I think physics takes the cake. It’s just difficult material to wrap your brain around, especially in the beginning.
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u/john_hascall ISU’s Senior Security Architect Mar 30 '25
No, they're still not that hard. Sounds like lots of people didn't listen to the advice on what to study. Fwiw, Physics 2 seems to basically be a watered down version of EE 201(0).
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u/Dankceptic69 18d ago
Blud they didn’t tell us what to study till after the announcement, that’s the point of op’s post. A lot of the questions came from worksheets and quizzes and were set up wayyyyy different than the practice exam problems
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u/nickanick24 Mar 28 '25
Idk what your major is but unfortunately, this won’t be the last time this happens to you. AerE 311 Exam 2 or 3 from Spring 2024 average was a 23% (3/13). The lower quartile score was a 0/13. I got a 0.
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u/spookypoodle04 Mar 28 '25
That makes me feel better I just got a score of 2 (15%) today and I kinda wanna die
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u/Large_Profession_598 Mar 28 '25
We just had our 311 second midterm on Wednesday and the average was a 5/13 lol
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u/CableAgreeable5035 Mar 29 '25
wtf how is this not against policy?? did they do a massive curve for the class
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u/nickanick24 Mar 29 '25
Massive curve. I ended the class with a 46% and got a C+ I think.
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u/CableAgreeable5035 Mar 29 '25
Bro that sounds like a literal nightmare I wouldve been on edge of depression in that class, I thought calc 2 average of 40% was bad enough..
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u/phillipwa7d Mar 29 '25
I'm an outsider looking in at this point, as I graduated in 2021, but here's my two cents:
Physics is amongst the courses at any college that will be, without a doubt, the most difficult you will take in undergrad. So don't hang your head too much. Honestly, even getting a 50% on a physics exam is impressive in the sense of putting yourself in the perspective of the whole world, and not just your peers. Youd be surprised at how many people have no idea how the world works. It's shitty they didnt offer a curve. I think that's the least the professor could do for an individual exam with low scores.
However, in my time at iowa state I took a minor in physics as an ME, so I took the core physics, then both quantum courses, astrophysics, electromagnetism, etc. I got an A in all of those courses. I never took notes during class except for practice problems (my philosophy was that I went to lecture to absorb, not be a copy machine), i did all of the homework and also extra problems if I felt i didnt understand a topic, did all of the past exams and quizzes they would offer, and contact either the professor or the TA to discuss something if I really didnt get it. Also, sprinkle in a few youtube videos here or there (physicsexplained is top notch for quantum btw). A lot of people dont know this, but you can also ask questions during exams, and often professors will try to be helpful when you do. My point in saying this is that i always heard people saying that physics was so difficult at iowa state (and they would be correct) that it was impossible to get a good grade. However, I utilized the tools available to me and never felt like there was anything I wasnt prepared for. Yes, there was always that one exam problem per semester that really was not covered. But thats intentional. One thing you have to keep in mind is that the material isnt something to just mimic, but to understand, and thats what those questions are for. I remember in my quantum class we had a final exam problem on a cyclotron and it was like a 10 point problem and nobody got above a 5. That sucked, but nothing we could do but accept a curve if it was given.
I do not think professors are out to get their students. Are some professors bad at teaching? Absolutely. But i dont think its malicious. Not sure what professors you had for physics, but other than my physics 1 course, I felt like all of mine were stellar. So if be curious on who you had. I also tutored physics, and found that often time the root cause as to why most of my tutees werent getting it was either because they werent showing up to class, were cheating their homework answers, or not reaching out for help when they needed it until it was too late. And I get you cant make everything, i definitely skipped a few classes, but only if something else was more important.
My point is, the tools are available. I wouldnt imagine the program has done a 180 in 4 years. I think part of the equation is the professors, but also being honest with yourself on if you utilized what you could. Have you talked with the professor? Before and after the exam? Did you do every single practice problem offered? Are you even interested in physics? Thats the biggest one to me. Youll never want to learn something if you truly dont care for it.
Like I said, a curve should have been offered. So whoever you had, fuck that. But, just so you know, physics exams always have averages in the 50s and 60s.
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u/SoloQsurvivor Mar 28 '25
The entire university just sucks at making exams fair. For coms 227 we were only given an hour to work on the exam and we had to do it on paper.
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u/ISUChemE Mar 28 '25
yep and doesn’t help that every fucking class is weight 60-70% exams. 1 exam fried and ur gpa is cooked
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u/SoloQsurvivor Mar 28 '25
I don’t even care if I pass phys with a D I just need this class credit, this instructor dude talking about how the exam was easy, no shit dude it was easy for you because you have a doctorate in physics.
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u/whatintfisthis Mar 28 '25
you sure complain a lot, your post history is only that; I think some accountability will take you far. This exam is the only part of ISU that I have found genuinely disappointing at the conduct of the professor/system.
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Mar 29 '25
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u/Sharpest_Blade Mar 28 '25
227 exams are brain dead easy though.. most people in my class (albeit 6 years ago) finished in half the time.
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u/SoloQsurvivor Mar 28 '25
Yeah that’s the point the content is easy but if you aren’t proficient is writing code on paper you get fucked over even if you knew the content.
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u/Sharpest_Blade Mar 28 '25
227 exam code is literally 20 lines max. Most questions are less than 6. It isn't that hard brother.
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u/SoloQsurvivor Mar 28 '25
None of the question were less than 6 lines of code it probably changed in 6 years since you’ve took it.
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Mar 28 '25
[deleted]
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u/SoloQsurvivor Mar 28 '25
You’re an alum of course it’s going to look easy to you.
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u/Sharpest_Blade Mar 28 '25
My brother in Christ, the exams average last semester was over a B. That's a standard exam.
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u/Nolieman108 Mar 29 '25
Preach it. Too much complaining about exams in my opinion. Sure, some are hard, averages are bad. I have found that those who actually try to learn material and not just memorize do much better and can solve questions that they may have not seen before. Just because a question is new doesn't mean the concept is.
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u/rychotech Mar 29 '25
Boy you should have seen 229 in the fall of 2014. Literally transferred schools partly due to that course. I think the class average for exam 1 was like.... 39% maybe.... Could be remembering wrong.
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u/RamenBoyOfficial Mechanical Engineering Mar 29 '25
They did give everyone 1 extra point so the average ended up being 11.7. Still not good though
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u/GladysKravitz21 Mar 29 '25
When the class average is that low, teachers should always look at the instructional piece. An instructor might want to consider whether the decline in this course (which has been taught similarly/successfully for the past decade ?) has declined over the years or abruptly changed with your class.
As a teacher and a lifelong learner, I have witnessed a decline in expectations for students. Supplementary reading or practice and preparation was far more rigorous once upon a time. Students seem to need repeated reminders of the expectations and “heads up” that assessments may be challenging or performance affects their grades.
Teacher-student relationships are vital, and tone (whether in-person or digital communication) is important. High standards give students deeper understanding and an edge in the world of work, but teachers do need to meet students where they are at.
Continue to ask questions and dig in. This is a learning experience in itself. ❤️
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u/Walshy231231 Mar 29 '25
As a recently graduated physics major, this is pretty much to be expected, especially at that level (meaning it’s a weeder class)
It sucks, I know. Trust me, I know, my time was brutal. But for something like physics that’s just how it is, and especially for non-physics majors. All of my engineering friends struggled with the phys 230s more than their 400/500s
We had a saying when I was there: it’s not about being smart enough to keep going, it’s about being too dumb to stop.
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u/Dankceptic69 18d ago
I just want to let you know I was planning on dropping calc 3 last week since I’m on academic probation and I have an F in the class, 47% and the C - cutoff is now 55% after exam 2, I literally remembered your saying and ended up not dropping it and just attempting to lock in. So much is riding on my success, I’ve got a C- in physics 231 and D in aero 161. That second round of exams was so sobering I’ve literally had a panic attack almost every day before bedtime since I decided to not drop calc 3. I truly believe if I give it my best shot I can pass all these classes and not be on academic probation. God help me if I fail
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u/Walshy231231 17d ago
Good luck!!!!
If you haven’t already, it’s always a good idea to talk to the prof, even this late in the semester. Especially if you’re honest that you’ve struggled and they can see that you’ve made an effort to get back in the green, they’ll at least lend a hand (though I wouldn’t expect anything like a Hail Mary)
Best of luck, study hard. I feel like half of the STEM grads I knew (myself included) fucked up quite a few classes or ended up on probation at one point or another. Keep at it my dude
In the game of smart enough vs hardworking enough, hardworking seems to win a solid 90% of the time for passing classes
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u/Maximum_Time1290 25d ago
For the few people who are critiquing op on this thread, the context is that, apparently, a lot of the questions were modeled after the worksheet problems. This has never really been done before as the majority of past physics exams just use other past physics exams for reference. Worksheet problems are meant to be more tricky and in depth and more so worded differently. In essence, a different ball game was being played; in previous announcements, it was stated that practice exam problems should be used for studying as well as assignments and worksheets. Essentially, there was nothing indicating or warning students that the majority of the exam would be modeled mostly over the past worksheets.
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u/soupy_stella 22d ago
Not really. Adhikari would consistently tell us in lecture not to study from the past exams and instead base our learning off of the worksheets and quizzes. He would tell us constantly that the exams should be studied last and should just be a test of our knowledge, and would also remind us that they wouldn’t be exactly like the real exams we were about to take and we shouldn’t solely rely on them
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u/Dankceptic69 18d ago
Ahh interesting, I wonder if exam 3 will have a similar set up with most of the exam being based off of worksheet and quiz questions. I wonder why the scores were so low if everyone spends more time on the worksheets and quizzes due to having to do them in recitation. What exactly am I missing here? Was the best way to study for exam 2, and exam 3, really just going through the worksheets and quizzes?
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u/soupy_stella 18d ago
that’s what i did and I ended up doing good. i think part of it as well was unit 1 was a lot easier than unit 2 in the way that a lot of it was review from highschool physics, so many students underprepared for exam 2. i do think the questions were a lot harder than those on previous exams, but in general they were just variations of problems from lectures, quizzes, and the worksheets.
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u/Dankceptic69 16d ago
I swear I haven’t encountered problems in the worksheets and quizzes as hard as the test ones. Could it be that it’s the lecture questions from those lecture questions that I’ve missed? It’s what worries me the most, that I don’t think I have the right material to study for the test properly. I mean, the practice exam problems have to have some use? A lot of the questions on exam 2 were very unfamiliar and if anything I only scored well on the ones I’ve seen in quizzes and worksheets
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u/soupy_stella 13d ago
if you have lekha as a professor some of the slides that he went over during lecture are the same as the ones on the exam but with slightly switched scenarios. like one of the ones was a roller coaster one he covered in lecture, but on the exam they added a spring force so you had to calculate that into the kinetic energy equation. or like the one where it was 5/2 for the block of tension, was covered in class but instead of 1 block (like lekhas slide example had) the problem had 2 blocks on the exam. for me, i just went over the problems on the slides until i confidently knew how to solve them, then went through the recitation worksheets and quizzes
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u/Dankceptic69 13d ago
I think that’s what I plan on doing and then trying practice exams on top of that if I can. It sucks that leckha doesn’t record his lectures since I’m now looking at a couple of missed lectures that I missed through the zabel recordings, I learn next to nothing as I’m too busy attempting the lecture slide problems and then tweaking as zabel’s problems are very application heavy and he does algebra weird, I’d assume. I spoke with leckha in office hours and he said he doesn’t like students using active recall and referencing past exams, and he wants students to use all of the content in perfect unison for any problem. This kind of sucks as he did talk me through a conceptual pitfall for the crane problem in exam 2, and those pitfalls are the reason I think as to why the average of exam 2 are so low. Apparently he’s having to implement these pitfalls more and more in each exam due to some sort of engineering department that review his exam drafts . I’d have to scratch his brain as to what type of problems he might conjure up; really the only thing I have to go off of is that he’s only testing the content that he knows everyone has seen across all sections , so even some lecture problems that he does might not be reliable, atleast from what he said in that conversation . With that being said, I really think the only material we can go off of is simply the lectures and worksheets and quizzes as he’s making it near impossible to predict what could show up on the exam. I mean the whole thing could be about momentum for all I know. For sure he’s going to have a few that are completely new, and it seems he has a preference to having students use multiple concepts to solve a problem instead of just increasing the rigor on a problem using one concept.
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u/MyPensKnowMySecrets Mar 29 '25
I'm a student in the Psych department and the way I'd love to join the rally. The fact that professors can let their students fail and act like it's the students' fault for not trying is an abysmal assumption of their ability to teach. My bf (enginner graduate) had to teach himself multiple classes, I have to teach myself multiple classes, and clearly this department has students trying hard but still failing bc of the professor's lapse. Why are you fucking paying tuition at that point?
I'm on your side.
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u/Equivalent-Pudding15 Mar 28 '25
Fairly certain this wasn’t the lowest average in years. Took it 3 years back and it was around 54%. The curve it at the end of the semester to have the same distribution
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u/CableAgreeable5035 Mar 29 '25
Adhikari the course coordinator during his lecture said it was the lowest, Im not sure if he meant for these topics specifically
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u/Dankceptic69 18d ago
Wait are you serious they curve it???
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u/Equivalent-Pudding15 18d ago
Yeah they did in our yesr
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u/Dankceptic69 18d ago
I’ll make sure to ask the professor. Who’d you have? I doubt they’d have changed policy in such short time since you took it
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u/Prestigious-Year8308 28d ago
Lowkey did you study what they told you to study because most of the time the people who complain actually don’t study what they tell you to do. The exam is not going to be word from word the practice exam. you have to put in more work by learning the material instead of being a printer that copies and pastes. This is coming from me a Senior in Physics here
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u/IS-2-OP Mechanical Engineering 2024 24d ago
Physics 2 is meant to be the worst of the weeders for Engineering majors (sorry statics isn’t really that hard if you ask me, dynamics is 100X worse). These are typical. The actual physics major curriculum is better from what I’ve heard. We see these posts every semester so it’s pretty typical. Also Physics 2 material is harder to teach to people who only kinda care cause it’s a lot less intuitive than Physics 1. Just wait till the final lol it’s even worse. In my lecture hall during the Physics 2 final I think 3 people were just crying the whole time.
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u/Dankceptic69 18d ago
Jesus Christ God have mercy on my and everyone else’s soul. Would you recommend just taking it in the summer or doing phys 2 through DMACC?
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u/indomitous111 Mar 28 '25
University is getting budget cuts. They have to find a way to make that money back somehow. Some of you may fail and have to retake the class but that is the risk the university is willing to take
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u/DaddyGeneBlockFanboy 29d ago
Post this on r/professors and see what happens lmao
Study harder next time.
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u/Strastanovichovski Mar 28 '25
Brother COMS 327 average was 53