An amazing course. Advanced quantum mechanics is a difficult subject, but Gary did a great job in breaking things down to an understandable level. You learned a lot of physics by following the lectures and doing the homework.

Gary is scary smart! I learned so much from him. This course is difficult but it is totally worth it. If you want to learn advanced physics at UW-Madison, he is definitely the guy.

I enjoyed lectures with Gary. I thought lectures were well organized and that I was adequately prepared for the exams. I think that the course adapted really well to changing from multiple choice to free response on the exams. The discussion sheets did really well preparing us for the exams and the overall content on the exams was very fair.

Gary has got to be the funniest professor I've had, always had some unexpected one liners. But aside from that he was a very good professor, I liked his slides and thought he complemented them very well with his words. One of the better professors I've had.

Smart guy and very knowledgable. I felt very engaged when learning.

Prof. Shiu has a great sense of humor and is a very engaging lecturer. He is very knowledgable.

Lectures are fast paced and he provides little explanations aside from reading off the slides. However, he covers EVERYTHING in his slide decks so you don't have to read the textbook. Slides are made such that important information is highlighted, making studying easier. Some find his accent difficult, I had no problems understanding him.

Dr. Shiu mostly explains the complex topics of the course well, magnetism in particular, but sometimes he goes too fast in lectures. Fortunately I had discussion right after lecture which helped in reviewing the lecture topics. Aside from that Dr. Shiu is available after lecture and offers good explanations for concepts he may have rushed through.

Dr. Shiu was wonderful. His lectures were very good, though really fast-paced. I visited his office hours once to talk about his research and he was extremely kind and welcoming. Physics is not an easy subject for me, but Dr. Shiu helped make it better.

He's a good lecturer, and acts like he wants to teach the class, a rare occurrence. The course is well-run with the exception of labs (long, frustrating, bad equipment) and the grading is fair. Don't be discouraged by exam grades, put in the effort in all aspects of this class, remember it's five credits, and you should do fine.

I enjoyed Gary's presence as 202 instructor while we were learning about magnetism, emf, and briefly light. His enthusiasm towards the course material, demos and humor allowed me to stay engaged during lectures. His presentations were concise and to the point.

Fantastic lecture coverage and student engagement. Never went to a lecture wanting to get out early or leave. Great for learning and sometimes getting a laugh. Let me know he was human.

Gary's lecture slides we always well organized, and he did good demos in class to solidify knowledge. I feel like he isn't as approachable as the second instructor though, but that may be because he taught less lectures. Overall though, he did a good job and no huge complaints.

Gary does his best to teach physics 2. The exams don't really test you on how well you understand physics. If you write down every equation you see in the textbook and in the lecture slides, you will do fine on the exams. His self-deprecating humor in lecture is both sad and warming. He is a good person. The lectures are fast-paced for sure.

Professor Shiu knew how to explain theoretical concepts on very insightful level. His lectures were interesting and clear, and the in-lecture demonstrations were fantastic.

Unlike Pan, Professor Shiu uploads his lectures early and takes his time when explaining things in lectures, which makes his lectures very easy to follow. He also cares about answering his students' questions after lectures to the point that he would stay longer than the time He's allowed to be in the lecture hall. He's a great professor!

While the physics 202 team in general is a mess due to the often horrible TA's. The professors will take care of you and give solid lectures with some cool demos scattered throughout them.

Prof. Shiu explained thoroughly the concepts in class and he communicated well with students. He would stay after class to answer students questions, and gave prompt replies to emails. His class was not that hard if you really paid attention.

He is a solid choice, sometimes is unclear in lecture and confusing, but most of the time he teaches fine enough.

This is a tough class and if you dont pay attention you wont be able to get good grades. Prof. Shiu is very patient and he stays after class to answer questions and that helps a lot

Prof. Shiu gave very clear lectures and I love the demos he did in class!! Physics is hard, and you have to work harder to do well in this course. There are two instructors of this course: Prof. Shiu taught the first half. Those who gave bad reviews must have confused Prof. Shiu with Prof. Pan.

Lectures are useless. Will spend most of the time deriving an equation instead of showing how its actually used in problems. Attendance at lecture decreased exponentially as more people realized this. I learned everything from the textbook, which I highly recommend.

Far exceeds the teaching capability of Marshall Onellion. Gary is very direct during lecture but they are not boring. He makes sure to answer all of your questions. The only negative about him is that the exams are extremely difficult. They are curved though. Your grade with Gary will correspond to the amount of work you put into the class.

Better than Herndon but still not great. Is alright but at the same time just the way the course is set up sucks. No example problems like what you would see on an exam were shown/demonstrated either in lecture or in discussion.

I had the combination of Matthew Herndon and Gary for Physics 202. I made a point to attend every lecture presented by Gary as they were, on average, entertaining and informative. In general, his lectures explained concepts fairly clearly but he sometimes got a bit too side-tracked doing derivations which never appeared on tests.

Gary is a great professor, always patient to listen to our questions after class and answer them in a way we can understand. It is a difficult class, but his friendliness makes it bearable.

Very sweet guy, just not a great professor. This is one of the most poorly run classes I have taken. Does not explain things very clearly.

A pretty good lecturer, but I never felt like he added anything to the PowerPoints, they gave all the information. Tests were difficult.

Gary was a fine professor and I thought he explained things well enough. However, the structure of the class itself makes this class really hard. I primarily struggled due to the multiple choice (no partial credit) and types of questions they tested us on. Get ready to focus and be consistent at learning this class. Cramming won't work.

I really liked Professor Shiu, he was very pleasant and made sure that everyone understood the material as well as he could explain it. That being said, he teaches physics at UW so there are the inherent shortcomings. If you need to take 202 this is the guy you want to have.

Much tougher class than I was expecting. Gary's a good guy and a reasonably good professor. That said, get ready to work, HARD. Fortunately, I found the time to make really detailed and informative notesheets--that helped tons for the exams. If you have those done well, things get a lot less tough.

Gary is a great professor. The real problem with this course is that the exams are multiple choice with no partial credit. The cheat sheet you make for every exam is key; if you don't have that formula down, you will not got the question right. It is ridiculous that in this heavy of a calculation based course there is no partial credit .

Lectures seem simple, he spends a long time reviewing and very little time teaching new content, at least it seemed.

His PHY202 lectures were amazing. I took this class in my first semester of freshman year and aced it. He's funny too!

Gary is a really smart guy. He teaches 202 basically full time after the first midterm. He is much more enthusiastic than the other professor so I liked him better. The lectures are pretty boring but the content is very applicable and actually interesting. Homework is doable usually and exams are okay. Study old exams. Still take 208 instead.

This class is taught by two professors switching off so be aware. His lectures are pretty comprehensive and give you a good baseline. Definitely also need to do ALL the homework problems, read the textbook, and do the practice tests. Also attend discussion. There were problems on the test not covered in lecture so pay attention to the text.

This class is probably ok for most regualr students but if you are an older or returning student beware. This is a huge class, almost 400 people. It was taught by two professors going back and forth, not really their fault but just the way these classes are in today's college world...

Gary is very intelligent. He goes through his lecture slides very fast. Students need to be very concentrated. Unlike physics 201, this course has a huge amount of calculus. Be prepared. His lecture does not cover all the concepts that appear in homework. Reading textbook is a must. Lab is very difficult and has many questions out of syllabus.

Shiu is an interesting character and seems excited to teach. He even cracks a few jokes now and then. However, The course is not well designed. Lectures don't cover enough material. Reading the textbook and attending discussion is essential to passing as the Homework and tests cover material never discussed in lecture.

I didn't have much expectation for a big introductory class like this but he was surprisingly good. He gives clear lectures and you can tell he is willing to help you learn. He actually sat with me for an hour after class to go over examples in class.

He's not a bad professor. You can tell he knows the material and is decent at teaching it. It's a shame he has to teach with Boldyrev, since Shiu is much better at teaching. He speaks clear enough to understand. He should have a course to teach on his own instead of sharing a course.

As far as physics prof goes, he is as good as you can get. He seems passionate about what he does and cares about his students. Sure the tests are tough but what isn't. The guy has a warped sense of humor. Crack me up.

Professor Shiu is your typical nerdgeek. Makes nerdy jokes and is overall quirky. The class is tough. Lots of work required, and lectures tend to focus on broad concepts. Hope you get a good TA to help explain things. Exams are multiple choice, not easy.

This class sucks. That being said, he is probably a good professor to have for it. Makes jokes and tries to keep the class interesting when, frankly, the material is boring. The class itself is quite difficult, as they test you on material that sometimes isn't in the book or in lectures. Tests are all multiple choice with NO partial credit. Be wary

Cool professor with a good sense of humor. Really knows his stuff and communicates well. I think people have to realize that he has over 600 students in his class. He has made the best use of his time during lectures to introduce the subject. Can't expect everything to be covered in lectures. Examples are done in tutorials by the TAs.

Not a good teacher, went through material really fast and did not do many examples

Gary is a fun teacher. He makes physics accessible. He has the ability of introducing the lecture material in a humorous way and his demos are fun to watch. He is passionate about what he does. The course is tough but his exams are fair. He is extremely busy but he takes his time in explaining physics to me after lectures which I appreciate.

Lecture was useless. Read directly off powerpoint slides and never actually worked a problem or even discussed how to apply the material to problems. Exams not at all based on lecture material, making them tremendously difficult to prepare for. Massively disappointing for someone very interested in physics.

Gary was very kind and approachable. You could tell he had a genuine interest in teaching, however his class was very disorganized and there was a huge disconnect between lecture and discussion/lab. The exams were fair.

Gary is friendly and approachable. Whenever I came to his office hours, he'd help me very patiently. He's an extremely busy professor so I really appreciate his time. His demos often don't work -- but that's part of his act! He's creating a funny, relaxed atmosphere instead of your typical "professors know it all" introductory physics course.

Prof Shiu was my least favorite physics professor. He is very nice and funny, but he gets jumbled in lectures a lot, and his demos never work. He puts random equations on the board and doesn't explain how he got them. He would be a lot better if he explained himself more. Not the greatest professor.

If Gary needed a kidney, and I were an eligible donor, I probably wouldn't give him my kidney. However, I would probably send him a card and feel sad a lot.

I'd rate him at above average. Able to follow him, but he gets jumbled and sidetracked a good amount which makes us go WAY slower in class than we should. Don't be worried if you have a class with him but don't be excited about it either.

He doesn't seem particularly comfortable teaching a large lecture, and he sometimes seems confused. But he covers the material at a good pace, and he's a very approachable guy.

Don't go to lecture, it was a waste of time. Having a good TA is essential. Lab is a joke, and was very easy and boring. Go to every discussion session and you will do just fine. Homework is online which is nice. Gary Shiu was the better of the two professors that taught this class, but still boring and read right from the powerpoint.

Gary is smart, funny, and super-friendly. I often feel that he is one of us rather than some unapproachable prof! The guy below is sour probably because he/she got a poor grade. It is a tough course but don't blame your professor for not explaining well if you don't make an effort. I found Gary's lectures crystal clear.

worst class of my life. you can't understand this guy at all. on the first day of class, they tell you not to take notes in lecture. what's the point of going then? exams are ridiculously difficult. i'm sorry if you have to take this class.

Pretty cool guy. Much more laid back than the other proffesor. He is friendly and wants you to do well. The class is not too hard. The practice exams really help.Also steve burns is a good TA to have!

He seems to try hard to give good lectures. His accents are sometimes annoying but except for that he's smart, nice, and funny. He actually says hello whenever you run into him on State street - and he has like hundreds of students in his lecture.

Most personable physics teacher on campus. He will sit with you for as long as it takes to help you with your questions. His lectures are more conceptual than example based, wants you to understand the theory much more so than to do a problem.

Great Professor. Examples made sense and were useful. Tested on things we actually learned, opposed to the other professor in the class.

Very fun teacher. I'd recommend him over the other profs.

Gary is amazing!

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Fun professor. Taught a lot from the book and all test questions were from the book or slightly modified. I reccomend that you look over (not do) all problems from the book before the test to make sure you could do them on a test.