Prepare for Honors Physics with a Peer Tutor

This article was part of a series by the Board of Student Academic Support Services (SASS) that interviewed OHS course peer tutors about the courses they tutor. You can book an appointment with these peer tutors through the OHS Writing Center, which can be found on the OHS Gateway site. 

SASS: What did you enjoy about Honors Physics?

Bikrant Das Sharma (‘18): I enjoyed Honors Physics for many reasons: the interesting concepts, open ended labs, and the enthusiastic instructors. My most favorite part of Honors Physics was being able to see the concepts that we learned in class applied to real life. Being able to understand many of the strange phenomena we experience in everyday, such as the movement of objects inside a car being different than the movement of the car when taking a turn, was a rewarding feeling. The open ended labs were also enjoyable, as many of the labs allowed me to put my own personal spin on the general idea. One such lab that comes to mind is the Rube Goldberg Machine, in which everyone builds their own contraptions to explore the conservation of energy and momentum. The labs were really fun to design, execute, and analyze. Most importantly, all the Honors Physics instructors were amazing. I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to all of them, and I realized that they the main reason why the class was so much fun. They were (and are) very enthusiastic, charismatic, funny, friendly, and knowledgeable.

SASS: What challenged you the most in Honors Physics? How did you overcome those challenges?

Bikrant: The most challenging aspect of Honors Physics for me was the initial chapters. I took Honors Physics as a freshman, so I felt a bit overwhelmed by difficulty of some of the topics. I had also not taken Trigonometry. To overcome this challenge, I made sure that I read the chapters very carefully, studied the relevant trigonometric concepts, and worked through the examples in the book. I also attended office hours whenever I was stumped or stuck on something. After the initial month, I adjusted to the class and had a great time.

SASS: What tips do you have that could be useful to students taking Honors Physics?

Bikrant: My biggest piece of advice to students taking Honors Physics is to make sure that they do part of the homework every day and come prepared to the class. Saving all the homework to the night before the due date takes longer, gets stressful, and I found that I learned less when I did this. Also, students should never be afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly they may sound. A strong foundation is built based on sound concepts. There are many avenues to ask questions whether that be with teachers, tutors, or peers. Students should either drop by during office hours, send an email to their instructor or tutor, or message their instructor in class to clarify any doubts.

SASS: About how much time did you spent a week working on assignments and preparing for discussion sessions in Honors Physics?

Bikrant: I spent about 3-4 hours on reading textbook and written assignments, about 1 hour for quiz preparation and taking the quiz, 2.5 hours in class, and another 2-3 hours doing labs. [Altogether, about 8-10 hours a week.] Although Honors Physics did take a good amount of time, it was well worth the experience and the knowledge that I gained from the class.

SASS: What was your favorite topic covered in Honors Physics?

Bikrant: I am being totally honest when I say that I enjoyed all the topics covered in Honors Physics! Each unit had something special about itself, and many of the units built off of previous units. One of my favorite topics was the electricity unit, in which we built many circuits on a breadboard. It was fun to build, debug, and measure the voltage and resistance in the circuits.

SASS: What assignments did you enjoy doing in Honors Physics?

Bikrant: Labs were the most enjoyable part in Honors Physics. Over the year, we did many labs, usually one for each unit (although some units towards the end of the year had two labs). Being able to put the concepts to work in a lab was interesting to watch and implement. Also, coming up with your own lab design using the materials around your house was enjoyable, as it required me to think outside the box.

SASS: Did you have any experiences with Honors Physics that could encourage those who are uncertain of the course to want to take it?

Bikrant: Initially, I had not planned to take Honors Physics during my Freshman year. I had applied for another class, but that class did not fit my time constraints, so I was forced to reconsider. I was quite unsure whether I would be able to take Honors Physics, since it seemed like a hard class and I thought it was premature to take the class. But after doing some research and giving it much thought and consideration, I decided to take the class. I have never regretted that decision. Honors Physics was a great eye opener to how things work in the real world and is truly my favorite science class that I have taken since.