ECE-521

QUANTUM MECHANICS

Offered Fall 2026

ELEC&CMP · Taught by Stiff-Roberts, Adrienne · Last offered Fall 2025

Overview

Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Difficulty runs on the high side even without a single dominant complaint theme. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.

DepartmentELEC&CMP

Terms offeredFall

Typical enrollment12–33

Semesters of data3

6.8

Hrs / week

Responses

Enrollment

88%

Response Rate

Evaluation Scores

Overall quality

Teaching, content, and experience combined.

4.6

12345

Intellectually stimulating

Challenges students to think deeply.

4.6

12345

Instructor effectiveness

Explains concepts and facilitates learning.

4.7

12345

Difficulty

Higher means harder.

4.0

12345

Feedback Analysis

Feedback Analysishigh

Analysis based on student evaluations

Based on 136 comments across 3 sections

Student Reports

How hard is the A?

Hard to get an A

Students repeatedly frame high grades as something you have to earn. This reads as hard to ace rather than casually easy, especially once the course pace or grading standards ramp up.

Homework Load

Heavy homework load

Homework load is one of the clearest friction points. Students repeatedly describe assignments, readings, or problem sets as time-consuming.

Lecture Load

Regular lecture load

Lectures matter here, but the evidence points to a fairly standard lecture burden rather than a course dominated by long or exceptionally dense lectures.

Strengths

• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.

Tradeoffs

• Difficulty runs high even when comments do not settle on one dominant complaint.

Best fit for

Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.

Watch out for

• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.

Student Responses

Overall, the course was rewarding, though the exam was challenging. I gained a lot of valuable knowledge and insights.