Class was an easy A given that almost all grading was completion based. There’s 8 labs total with your lowest score dropped, a few were pretty annoying and time consuming but just work together or go to section and ask your TA and they’ll basically tell you the answer. You have to submit a science communication project (anything oceanography related) at the end of the quarter but you have the entire quarter to work on it (YouTube video, article, comic) and you can work in a group. Honestly, the prof was really hands off and absent from the course since we just watched recycled vids from 2016 and took notes on it so if you’re taking the class to further your interest on the subject I’d recommend taking it with someone else. That said, grading is extremely lenient, you can turn things in a week late (or more in the first half of the quarter) and get full points.

Grade Breakdown:
30% - Lecture and Reading Notes (read textbook chapters and watch lectures to take notes on them)
30% - Labs
30% - 3 assignments (basically taking notes on a YouTube video or answering review questions)
10% - Science communication project

pros:
- work is "busywork" where you just get it done and move on. very easy to get a good grade
- professor is nice and has lots of communication
- i think oceans are cool

cons:
- work is busywork. doesn't feel very engaging even for someone like me who was already interested in oceanography.
- lecture notes and textbook notes feel very very repetitive. almost identical diagrams/content, but you have to take notes and submit both. made the work feel even less engaging.

frustratingly boring (I'm a Poli Sci major if that helps). Sometimes the labs were hard and you basically needed to get the answers from a TA. Overall, the requirements are easy since there are no exams but I probably wouldn't take this class again.

An easy A if you do the work. The midterm and final both have a group component, so your score is 30% group and 70% individual which helps a lot, in addition to the fact that she lets you have two front and back pages of notes. The labs are generally pretty straightforward except for a couple that were hard, but the weekly lab quizzes are a lot easier than the labs themselves so it's not too hard to do well in lab. I thought I bombed the lab final because there was a ton of math that I didn't even attempt to do, so I think it was curved a TON. If you do the all the assignments and go to class to get iclicker points, it's pretty straightforward. There are weekly reading quizzes you have to take, but there are unlimited attempts so you don't even have to read to get 100%. I got a B- on the final, an A on the midterm and got an A+ in the class. This is a good, easy science GE for north campus majors like myself who are just trying to fulfill the science GE requirements. I didn't go to office hours, but Tripati offers morning tea or something so you can go and talk to her, which is pretty cool. She is a really nice professor and is often funny, but she goes really fast on her slides so it can be hard to take notes. I thought this class was going to be more about ocean life and biology, but it's basically an Earth Systems science class- coriolis effect, properties of water, plate tectonics, and etc. so don't expect to learn about what a dolphin eats or whatever. Regardless, though, it was an easy class, and I highly recommend it.

Also, selling Trujillo and Thurman Oceanography textbook- text me at **********

Professor is super nice and understanding of current challenges! If you are taking this during COVID, the class is formatted very differently than the rest of the reviews. The two classes a week were just a q and a and breakout rooms to work on homework.There were no exams, which was amazing because I think the material would have been challenging if we were tested on it. It is an easy science GE but has a lot of busy work. Every week you have to do lecture notes and reading notes on usually 2 chapters, 30 pages each. Lab section was optional but found it very useful to attend because the TA could answer questions you had about the weekly lab. At times the labs were challenging but you can work in groups and you will find the answer from somewhere. There is also a project due by week 10 where you have to create some type of informational video, website, etc. It wasn’t difficult at all. Every week you also have the opportunity to watch a ted talk or ocean documentary and write a summary to get extra credit. There were other opportunities for extra credit too. Also, there was a super lenient late policy and you could miss 2 weeks of notes and get full points. In total, you have to do reading and lecture notes (very easy to do them without reading all 30 pages and still get full credit), weekly lab, the project, and 3 assignments (we had to take notes on youtube videos and answer some short answer questions about class material-super easy). There is no reason not to get an A in this class if you just do the work. Only criticisms- professors often sent out information about class assignments and the projects late and I would sometimes finish things early and she would later send out extra information about that assignment. Also, because it’s asynchronous and there is no pressure to learn the material because there are no exams, you will only learn as much as you want to so might not be for you if you are looking to learn a lot. My one main take away from this class is that I am now terrified of global warming!

Honestly, this class is a hit or miss. It's a hit with students due to its "easiness" with a light workload (consisting on weekly review Qs, lab sessions, and clicker-based attendance). It's a miss due to Tripati's often confusing teaching style, where she goes either too fast or too slow, too vague or too in-depth, and organized or super disorganized.

It's GREAT that she uploads her PPTs, but most of the slides are vague or practically empty (with only pictures), so it's hard to rely on them without listening to the 1-hr podcasts (which can be total wastes of time). Lecture is EXTREMELY hard to get through without a laptop, because she speaks too fast to catch everything (which brings us back to the podcasts and PPTs).

Midterm was 15 Qs. 30 min each for indiv. and group section. Final was about 60 Qs (shouldn't take more than 1 hour, but extra 30 min for double checking). Honestly, don't spend TOO much time on your cheat sheet. I spent an entire day, and I only used 1/10 of it.

Your best, most time-efficient chance at this class? Go to class WITH a laptop to take notes to make filling out the midterm/final review simple, and do the extra credit.

Also, if you are interested in purchasing a book (crucial for acing those weekly quizzes), I have the bound 10th edition for sale. Email me at *************. I promise a more than fair price, as I know the stress with spending hours searching for decent offers!