Chevron Left
Back to Physics 101 - Forces and Kinematics

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Physics 101 - Forces and Kinematics by Rice University

4.6
stars
132 ratings

About the Course

This first course serves as an introduction to the physics of force and motion. Upon completion, learners will understand how mathematical laws and conservation principles describe the motions and interactions of objects around us. Learners will gain experience in solving physics problems with tools such as graphical analysis, algebra, vector analysis, and calculus. This first course covers 1D Kinematics, 2D Kinematics, and Newton's Laws. Each of the three modules contains reading links to a free textbook, complete video lectures, conceptual quizzes, and a set of homework problems. Once the modules are completed, the course ends with an exam. This comprehensive course is similar in detail and rigor to those taught on-campus at Rice. It will thoroughly prepare learners for their upcoming introductory physics courses or more advanced courses in physics....

Top reviews

AR

Mar 6, 2023

I have learnt the basics and the difficult concepts in much better and fun way. I never thought I would finish this course and watch all supplement videos and finish the aassessments

JM

Jul 14, 2022

Great course: Great content, great quizzes and exam.

I definitely had trouble on some of the harder questions, but was able to solve them all with the materials from the course.

Filter by:

1 - 25 of 30 Reviews for Physics 101 - Forces and Kinematics

By Gabriel G

Feb 2, 2021

Course was excellent, but a few of the questions in the problem sets had a wrong answer coded into the parser, making it very frustrating to try different options until finding the one that worked, even though it was wrong. I made sure to point out those mistakes using the feedback option in the questionnaires, so they can be fixed in the future. Also, the parser when working with symbolic answers was wrong in several answers, working for example with "mg" instead of "m*g", which should not happen, since "mg" is nothing but a constant. I hope these are fixed for future courses. But all in all, it was very satisfying.

By Jack

Dec 23, 2020

Dr. Hafner is a fantastic teacher, he illustrates concepts with concrete examples and provides demonstrations and historical tidbits that reinforce them instead of leaving you only with a mathematical treatment. He does this in an entertaining and funny way too, but don't be fooled, the treatment is fully rigorous and is similar to what you'd find in a freshman calculus-based physics course at a respectable university. For this reason, you should come already knowing things like trigonometry and rudimentary calculus (basic derivatives/integrals). The course loosely follows a free text book online which offers readings and additional exercises, it's optional, but if you are seeing physics for the first time you might need this resource.

The production quality is very high, and you are treated to silly demonstrations each time you complete a problem set. A fantastic specialization, much better than the competition from other top schools (I've used them too), you come away with a stronger conceptual understanding and the rigour to back it up. You'll only wish your future physics courses were taught this well.

By Tal K

Sep 27, 2021

Excellent course! very well explained, and the homework and final exam are at a good level.

By Sylvain M

Feb 3, 2021

A great course. As the professor says, real learning happens when one is confronted with challenging problems, and this course provides many interesting ones. I learned a great deal, not only in physics but in problem solving in general. Looking forward to the next course ! And I hope the complete series (mechanics + electromagnetism + waves and optics) will make it to coursera this year.

By Timothy H

Jan 17, 2021

I found this to be a really interesting and well delivered course. A real step up in complexity as you head into the exams, so be careful on that. But we're here to stretch ourselves, not just repeat what was said in the lessons.

A nice piece of light heartedness with the stupid physics tricks at the end of each week. Gives us something to look forward to!

Looking forward to doing the other courses on this specialisation.

By Nguyen D L

May 16, 2021

Thank you Professor Hafner,

You made Mechanics clear and fun to learn. I am taking this class again after 30 years out of school to help tutor my son in High School. I am especially impressed with how you make time dilation/relativity so accessible.

Looking forward to more Physics classes,

Best,

Nguyen Le

By Deleted A

Jan 12, 2021

The course was pretty fun! All the quizzes were pretty hard and I didn't manage to get all the answers (Infinite no of tries with no waiting time-i will be trying again), but all the videos were pretty fun and interesting to watch. Not the usual dull lectures :)

Thanks, Prof.Jason!

By Estefano Y

Oct 27, 2021

A very nice introduction to forces and kinematics with many interesting questions!!!

By Ogweno E

Sep 11, 2021

A very informative and challenging course!

By SHASHANK P

Apr 28, 2021

it was a fantastic course

By CARLOS I A J

Jul 27, 2021

Excellent course!

By Tom B

Jan 7, 2023

This is a really good course. I learned a lot. The OpenStax text is excellent. Professor Hafner is excellent. The only negatives for me are that in order to do all of the homework problems, you will likely have to do some additional sleuthing beyond the text and the lectures. Also, the auto-grader for the homework can be finicky. I spent a day banging my head against the wall because I entered "m" for mass instead of "M". I also learned by trial and error that subscripted variables should be entered as m_1, rather m1. Nevertheless, this is a really impressive job by Rice and Coursera. I liked it enough that I'm on to Energy and Momentum.

By Ashwin A

Mar 29, 2022

The course was good. The concepts were clearly explained. There were adequate demos and solved problems to properly instil all the concepts. The problems were tough but they help you to contemplate on the material. The instructor is amazing , his way of explaining and his use of humour help in staying focused.

By Samuel C

Sep 28, 2023

Prof is informative and funny. My only complaint is that the final exam had some vaguely defined questions and at least one error. It allows you to retake the exam, though, so eventually I figured out what they were asking for.

By Jeff M

Jul 14, 2022

Great course: Great content, great quizzes and exam.

I definitely had trouble on some of the harder questions, but was able to solve them all with the materials from the course.

By Panatchai B

Dec 1, 2021

Very great course on Physics 101, Funny and enjoyable

By Rogelio G

Jan 5, 2022

Excellent explanations.

By Anurag G

Dec 9, 2022

The course is designed beautifully and covers many things in depth, although does not address a few essential mathematical skills.

The only complain I have is that faculty and teaching assistants are not very active on the forum. People normally wait for months before they get a reply.

By Lisa F

Aug 7, 2022

It was a good course, but there wasn't a lot of interaction or responses to our questions in the discussion board. We were on our own with very little instructor interaction and had to deal with our own questions. I would recommend more support from the teaching staff.

By Gísli S R

Aug 15, 2023

Very good and videos. However the homework assignments are an absolute mess and need a lot of work. I do all the calculations on paper and when I'm trying to insert the numerical values on the homework, it needs to be correct to a certain decimal point or else you will have to do input all the numbers all over again. Sometimes after trying the same answer 5 times, you'll recalculate the problem only to realize you were right all along, but didn't write the answer to the micromillimeter accuracy that it was programmed to accept. Extremely frustrating and counter productive. Doesn't help the learning experience one bit. Videos are spot on, but until you see a review that the homework has been re-done by Rice University, I recommend you steer clear of this course and find an alternative if you are getting certifications.

By Floris K

Nov 14, 2022

Jason Hafner's lecture videos made this course a joy to follow. There were one or two problems in the homework assignment I felt ill prepared for and I had to resort to the internet to find similar problems (which did deepen my understanding so not necessairly bad) and a tiny problem with parsing in one of the answers but overal the combination of clarity and fun in the lecture videos more than made up for everything. If you want to get a basic understanding of physics I can highly recommend this course. (presuming I now have a basic understanding of physics ;-)

By Aleenah K N R

Mar 7, 2023

I have learnt the basics and the difficult concepts in much better and fun way. I never thought I would finish this course and watch all supplement videos and finish the aassessments

By Linnie H

May 4, 2023

Great course for a walk through of basic physics kinematics and forces ideas and functions

By Акимбеков Е

Feb 28, 2023

задачи можно поменять, , смысла неть? перевод не понятный Отве не сходися

By Juan P P T

Jun 11, 2022

Excelente curso, muy buen material de trabajo :)