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6.632 Electromagnetic Wave Theory (H)

Lecturer: : J. Kong Lecturer's Rating: 6.4/7.0 Prerequisites: 18.02, 18.03, 18.06, 8.07/6.013/6.630, Wave theory and complex analysis helpful

Response rate: 31 out of 40 Difficulty: 4.0/7.0 Overall Rating: 6.3/7.0 Term Evaluated: Spring 2006

Lecturer's Comments:

None.

This course covered advanced electromagnetic wave theory and its applications. It built upon wave theory (6.013/6.630) and moved into antenna theory, reflection, transmission and wave guides. Many students felt that it matched their expectations. Some thought that theory and math were overly emphasized while others felt that the balance between theory and application was even. A few students felt that the class spent too much time on review and left too little time at the end of class to present new material.

The majority of students cited interest and a wish to gain a deeper understanding of electromagnetic wave theory and its applications as their primary motivation to take the class. A substantial number also stated that the material was relevant to their research. The class satisfies the graduate TQE requirement.

Lecturer J. Kong (6.4/7.0, 30 responses) was a fantastic lecturer who emanated passion and devotion for the field during his lectures. His presentation style was clean and effective while his humorous stories contributed to a pleasant learning experience. Kong explained concepts behind chalkboards full of math very well and was also effective when answering questions from students.

TA B. Kemp (6.6/7.0, 23 responses) was simply awesome. He had a firm grasp of the subject material and could explain questions students asked him. He was readily accessible, friendly, and approachable.

The problem sets took an average of 5.3 hours each to complete. Some students felt that the problem sets were very helpful and useful and provided good coverage of the material. However, students felt that the problem sets relied too heavily on math and varied in difficulty. In addition, although solutions were distributed promptly, the explanations could be unclear. About half the class collaborated and found collaboration useful while the other half did not collaborate. No one used a bible.

The course text was written by the lecturer and was hailed as a valuable reference. However, some students complained that it was poorly organized and contained too much detail, which made the text difficult to understand. Most felt that the lecture notes, which followed the textbook closely, were great.

Students felt that the quizzes were fair, not too difficult, and accurately measured what they had learned. Exams were straightforward and paralleled lecture content. The lecturer would give out quiz questions before the actual exam and many felt that quizzes were comparable to or easier than problem sets.

Go into this class with a high level of mathematical and electromagnetics maturity. Study up on your vector calculus beforehand!