Professor
Yang Zhang
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - I believe this was Professor Zhang's first time teaching ECE 10, and it was fairly straightforward. In contrast to ECE 3, where you are merely introduced to various methods such as NVA, Impedance, and so on, Professor Zhang goes into detail about each topic and shows many examples in lecture. His exams are fair and simple (Midterm Median ~ 89, Final Median ~ 85). If you review lecture examples and tackle the homework problems honestly, you should be fine. If you want to feel more prepared, I recommend doing extra problems from YouTube or the textbook (but this is not required). I will say that he would sometimes ramble on about proofs, which could make you feel lost at times, but just remember that they are not required to be known. You'll do well if you understand both the lecture examples and main topics! He's very friendly and nice during office hours!
Winter 2024 - I believe this was Professor Zhang's first time teaching ECE 10, and it was fairly straightforward. In contrast to ECE 3, where you are merely introduced to various methods such as NVA, Impedance, and so on, Professor Zhang goes into detail about each topic and shows many examples in lecture. His exams are fair and simple (Midterm Median ~ 89, Final Median ~ 85). If you review lecture examples and tackle the homework problems honestly, you should be fine. If you want to feel more prepared, I recommend doing extra problems from YouTube or the textbook (but this is not required). I will say that he would sometimes ramble on about proofs, which could make you feel lost at times, but just remember that they are not required to be known. You'll do well if you understand both the lecture examples and main topics! He's very friendly and nice during office hours!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - This class is primarily run by the TA, but it is organized and structured by the Professor, and the lab manuals are reasonable and can easily be completed in an hour or two. Except for the first one, which has a four-week time frame, you have two weeks. They were designed to be completed at home, but there are still lab lab sections available for additional help. It makes no difference which one you are enrolled in; you can attend any of them. The labs essentially test the concepts you learned in ECE 10, up to Second Order Differentials. All labs require the AD2, so if you loved it in ECE3, you're in for a treat!
Winter 2024 - This class is primarily run by the TA, but it is organized and structured by the Professor, and the lab manuals are reasonable and can easily be completed in an hour or two. Except for the first one, which has a four-week time frame, you have two weeks. They were designed to be completed at home, but there are still lab lab sections available for additional help. It makes no difference which one you are enrolled in; you can attend any of them. The labs essentially test the concepts you learned in ECE 10, up to Second Order Differentials. All labs require the AD2, so if you loved it in ECE3, you're in for a treat!
AD
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - I took ECE100 with Professor Zhang and I think he is a good professor. He lectures well and covers the basics of circuits. He also shows us some real world applications of what we learn at the end of every lecture, which is cool. However, he went too slow in the first half of the class, which was mostly review for me since I had taken ECE3 and Physics 1B/1C before. Then, he went too fast in the second half, especially on MOSFETs, (which would later become super important in ECE115C). I wish he had spent more time on those topics and explained them better. The homeworks were mostly fine, except for the one on MOSFETs, which I couldn't finish it on time. The exams were also mixed. The midterm was too long and had too many problems, especially on 2nd order circuits, which took a lot of time to solve (but he curved generously!). Thankfully, he learned his lesson from the midterm. The final was better, as it was shorter and more balanced. He also gave us a practice exam before the final, which was helpful (a bit too helpful?). He graded generously and gave a lot of partial credit. Overall, I learned a lot from this class and I liked Professor Zhang. He is a nice guy and has a good sense of humor. He definitely cares about his students and tries to make the class interesting and relevant. The only complaint I have is the pacing, but definitely take it with him if you can!
Spring 2022 - I took ECE100 with Professor Zhang and I think he is a good professor. He lectures well and covers the basics of circuits. He also shows us some real world applications of what we learn at the end of every lecture, which is cool. However, he went too slow in the first half of the class, which was mostly review for me since I had taken ECE3 and Physics 1B/1C before. Then, he went too fast in the second half, especially on MOSFETs, (which would later become super important in ECE115C). I wish he had spent more time on those topics and explained them better. The homeworks were mostly fine, except for the one on MOSFETs, which I couldn't finish it on time. The exams were also mixed. The midterm was too long and had too many problems, especially on 2nd order circuits, which took a lot of time to solve (but he curved generously!). Thankfully, he learned his lesson from the midterm. The final was better, as it was shorter and more balanced. He also gave us a practice exam before the final, which was helpful (a bit too helpful?). He graded generously and gave a lot of partial credit. Overall, I learned a lot from this class and I liked Professor Zhang. He is a nice guy and has a good sense of humor. He definitely cares about his students and tries to make the class interesting and relevant. The only complaint I have is the pacing, but definitely take it with him if you can!