[mlui]

I took this course in Fall 2011 with Dr. Faure. I chose it as an elective, but it was not exactly what I expected it would be.

The course breakdown was:
2 midterms (25% each)
2 assignments (5% each)
1 final exam (40%)

The course was organized into three sections.
1) Physical Acoustics (essentially the physics of sound and hearing. The physics is fairly simple and he gives practice sets of questions. Some people were uncomfortable with this section because they had no background in physics, but even if you've taken highschool level you should be okay)
2) Auditory Anatomy and Physiology (An interesting coverage of how the ear actually works. I was hoping more of the course would be like this)
3) Psychoacoustics and Perception (this section was kind of rushed and unorganized as the prof tried to fit in all the material before the end of term)

In general the course was not extremely difficult, but I found that the lectures got a bit annoying after a while. Dr. Faure does not provide notes so in class you end up frantically trying to scribble down the notes in addition to the stuff he talks about. This got worse towards the end of the semester as he rushed to finish the material. However, he does provide summary notes at the end of each week, which allows you to sort of fill in the blanks you missed.

Also, the class has "3 lecture slots + 1 tutorial slot" but the tutorial was just another lecture.


On the up side, Dr. Faure is very enthusiastic and personable. He responds well to questions and attempts to get to know people in the class. His testing style is fair and the 2 assignments were quite simple and easy.

Also, here's the course outline from Fall 2011.

If you haven't taken physics since grade 11, would you say that the acoustics section of this course is still doable?

It depends on how well you general do with physics I believe. The physics and math is not hard but if you didn't do well in grade 11 physics at all and you're not too strong with math you may have a bit of trouble. It's stuff like calculating dB, using logs (a lot), exponents, sine waves, etc. Mainly a lot of logs haha. Also helps if you are able to rearrange equations cause it'll help you understand the math a bit more. But my opinion on almost anything is, if you put in the work, I don't see why you can't do decent if not well.

Are textbook readings tested on?

Technically yes, because most of the readings cover what he talks about in class. The readings are good review of the material - especially helpful because sometimes the prof speaks really quick in class.

Were there questions on the tests that had material only found in the textbook and not mentioned in lecture?

Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by lankan_4lif

Were there questions on the tests that had material only found in the textbook and not mentioned in lecture?

Thanks so much!

Note that I can specifically remember.

Originally Posted by mlui

Note that I can specifically remember.

Sorry, that should say "not"

He didn't test on anything that was only in the textbook but the textbook is great help for diagrams and explanations if you missed anything in class.

In the first course review, it says the tutorial slot was just another lecture slot. For the upcoming term next month, the tutorial section is scheduled on the same day as one of the lecture slots, so are we going to have two different lectures on the same day? Did you guys have lecture and tutorials on different days?

Originally Posted by lankan_4lif

In the first course review, it says the tutorial slot was just another lecture slot. For the upcoming term next month, the tutorial section is scheduled on the same day as one of the lecture slots, so are we going to have two different lectures on the same day? Did you guys have lecture and tutorials on different days?

Our lecture and tutorial slots were scheduled on different days. So I'm not sure if they changed the structure of the course or if you will have two lectures on the same day this year.

Ok. Thanks for the insight.