Introduction to Semiconductors, PN Junctions and Bipolar Junction Transistors

First of all, I would like to thank you for the efforts in crafting the course. I understand it is quite time consuming. So great efforts for that. Please see feedback below.

However, I'm extremely disappointed on how the course was structured. I don't think there was thorough planning for the course. I agree that this topic is very huge on concepts but it shouldnt be delivered this way.

It is obvious the instructor was reading off scripts the entire time, I dont know why. It shouldnt be this way. This is the same as dumping loads of information on you and you have nowhere to start. It is as good as giving me the textbook with pictures to read instead of watching the videos. In addition, you do not have to read the formulas 1 by 1 and alphabet by alphabet.

I appreciate that you tried to use water analogy to explain things but in my opinion it will just create greater confusion because the learner needs to compare more.

There are also a few things to note:
1) Slides should be uploaded to the learners as well for easier reference and study.
2) Weekly quiz or conceptual checks must have explanation to why certain answers should not be selected and not just have it for some questions.
3) On the topic of small signal models: It was not explained in the video on how you can identify the location in physical structures.
4) The right way to plan the course is to craft it using a learner's perspective, you need to have examples and you should film them by solving the example using that particular concept. If you have more than 1 concept then have more than 1 example to illustrate it. Solve it on the spot, explain step by step on what is the approach. That way it will be clearer, not reading the concepts to us !
5) Graphs on quiz questions need to have better labeling. Various graphs were not explained in the video too.

I hope there is a re-make for the course.

I do not recommend this course as it is not worth the money unless you are an extremely fast learner with adequate knowledge to the subject beforehand.

### Rating: ★★★★★

### Review:
"Introduction to Semiconductors, PN Junctions, and Bipolar Junction Transistors" by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology via edX is an excellent course. It provides a thorough and well-structured introduction to the fundamentals of semiconductor physics and devices. The course content is detailed and well-presented, making complex concepts like the Ebers-Moll model and BJT operation modes easy to understand. The instructors are knowledgeable and offer clear explanations and practical examples that help in grasping the theoretical aspects. The quizzes and assignments reinforce learning effectively. Highly recommended for anyone looking to build a solid foundation in semiconductor physics!

First of all, each of the explanations are clear and there's animation to illustrate the message. Everything started from a easily understood concept to a much complicated one, which makes the digestion much more easier since it gives the opportunity to recall from memory some of the older topics.
Secondly, the concept check question and the weekly quiz are perfect to test how much I have really understand and reconsider whether my concepts are correct or not. Each of the question targets some key points to understanding the mechanics of BJT.
Lastly, there are also supplementary resources provided from this course which makes it very convenient for myself to jot notes and make remarks, as it saves me time from making it myself. It basically covers all the information of the topic in one file.

I just finished the course and would like to share my experience of taking it. When I first started taking the course, I could understand what the professor said easily. Thus, I finished the first 6 topics in fewer than 2 weeks. The experience was great except that the water analogy was a bit hard to understand. However, the course became more difficult after the first few topics. There were fewer explanations that could lead new learners step by step to understand the concepts. I had to search online for other videos to understand the contents of the course. The quizzes are another thing I think can be improved. Most of the time there wasn't any explanation to the answers. Because of this, I could only know which answer is correct instead of knowing why it is the correct answer. Once there are some concepts learners can't understand, it becomes more difficult for them to continue the course since many concepts are linked together. My last suggestion is that there should be more explanations for the symbols and models. Overall, I think this course might be a great one for those who have basic knowledge of this topic but not for new learners.

I have just finished the course. I attended similar class before, but I did not understand much due to the abstract equations used. Instead of using the tradition approach to derive everything in the mathematical domain, this class used a lot of drawing and animation that help me to really visualize the details actions inside semiconductor devices. It is a totally different experience and help me to gain much clearer understanding on the subject. The quizzes were provocative, and helpful to understand the concepts. But I would say that the explanation is not enough. I hope that the instructor may consider adding more explanation to the quizzes and the course will be perfect. Nevertheless, this is the best class I have taken from an online platform.