I've never written a review on here, but this class was so great that I thought I should this time. Professor Goff is probably the best professor I've had at UCLA. She is engaging, funny, and extremely clear. She makes the class content super interesting and includes tons of videos of little kiddos that are honestly adorable. She doesn't require a textbook - you just have to read a few articles which she provides. The only work you really have to do for this class are weekly reading responses that are pretty much graded on completion. There are two midterms which were both very fair, and she drops your lowest midterm score (so if you do well on the first one, you don't even have to take the second one). Honestly, I did almost no work for this class and still learned A TON and pulled out a good grade. I'm now doing the applied developmental psych minor because this class was so great. Even if you don't think developmental psych is your thing, this class is really interesting and should probably be required for anyone who ever plans on having kids lol. TAKE THIS CLASS!!

Goff is a pretty good lecturer! She really ties in her own experiences with her own children when she can, so it's interesting to see some of the developmental psych concepts in The Wild. She is an engaging lecturer and cares about the learning of her students. I really like developmental psych and working with kids, so I was hoping this class would go a little more in depth, but I think it's a good intro course to developmental psych!

Exams were really doable. You get one drop midterm, but it's recommended you still take the second one even if you don't need it, so you can get a feel for how the questions are. Exams are somewhat non-cumulative. The bulk of the exam will be on the pertinent third of the class, but be able to apply the concepts to the big themes that run through the whole course. Don't stress about them too much, though (the typical nature vs nurture, etc). Some questions still tripped me up (as in most psych MC exams), but just read carefully, and they aren't too bad.

There is a very lax discussion component. Don't forget to respond to all the components on the weekly writing assignments (sometimes there's a stinger at the bottom that people miss because the assignment is laid out weirdly). You have groups that you only really discuss with in class. Readings do show up on the exam, but you only really need the key takeaways/methods. TAs should usually be able to point you to what you'll need to know from the readings.

Grade breakdown: Out of a total of 150 points

Two Midterms- drop the lowest out of the two (best score out of 50 points)
Final: 50 points
Discussion: 15 points for attendance (allowed to miss once), 10 points for participation, 25 points for 5 written assignments due every week
Extra Credit: Top Hat questions done during lecture. Max of three points possible ( it's like clicker questions but on your phone or laptop)

Lecture is cool. Professor Goff is real nice and she does talk about her kids a lot, but only really ever to connect to lectures. TopHat is needed for lectures in order to answer questions asked during class. If I remember correctly, it cost like $30-$40. You download it on your phone or laptop and answer questions as you would clicker questions. Both participation and correctness are taken into account for the extra credit so try to be correct. Not much else to say. The lecture was cool and interesting.

Discussion is cool too. You're put into groups on the first day which you'll stick with the whole quarter. There are no group projects though, it's just for group discussions. You usually talk about what each person wrote for the writing assignment for that week. The writing assignments are easy too. Read an article and answer some questions about it. About a page long, maybe a little longer. Overall really easy. Emily Neer was my TA.

r/ucla

Professor Goff was most amazing professor I had at UCLA. She was extremely funny, passionate, charming professor that made me look forward to her lectures. She often use her kids as example which I found it extremely helpful to learn some of the concepts. Her lectures are recorded by her personal phone which is more reliable than bruin cast as sometime there are some technical difficulties. Lectures are posted on CCLE as well which makes it very flexible as it is sometimes difficult to attend lectures everyday depending on life circumstances. She was extremely clear in the time of pandemic and handled final extremely well in such short notice with extreme flexibility, empathy, and kindness that I could not find for other professors in my other classes that I was enrolled in for that quarter. The class does not require any materials (save money) that will affect grade. However, she assigns free online articles that are very helpful and relevant to the course.The only thing you might have to pay for is top hat which is completely optional as it is only providing some extra credit. I think her exams were extremely fair and moderately challenging. I felt like I learned a lot in this class and would love to take more classes with her! I promise you would not regret taking class with her.

She talked real fast and luckily she recorded her classes herself, thus I actually have never been to the class. The tests are quite easy to me, probably because I have taken psych 133B (cognitive development)with another professor before. I think she did not explain materials too well, compared to the other class I have taken. I would recommend asking her in her office hour if you have any unclear concepts. I basically just listen to all the audio (around five lectures per exam) a day before. Although she said the final is cumulative, there are nothing details just very few simple basic concepts that covered the whole class. So better just focus on the new materials after the two midterms.

I want to take every class Professor Goff teaches. She accomplished something that I previously thought impossible - she made me appreciate kids. I am not the biggest fan of babies and children, I find them loud and annoying 95% of the time, but Professor Goff instilled in me a 5%-of-the-time appreciation for how incredible children really are. Plus, the class taught me a bunch of fun and harmless experiments to test on my future children (do infants have object permanence? Do babies develop in a cephalocaudal pattern or not?)

In all seriousness, Professor Goff is hilarious and clearly has a passion for this subject and loves teaching. Her lectures were engaging and super interesting, and I liked how simple her PPTs were (they were nice and barebones - not bogging you down with paragraphs of information like some classes). She records the lectures herself and posts them so no worries about BruinCast malfunctioning.

I thought her exams were very fair. There are 2 midterms and a final, all are 50 multiple choice questions. Your lower score on the first 2 midterms is dropped, which was a good way to reduce anxiety surrounding the tests. She also gives 2 points extra credit if you complete 2 hours of SONA credit. Some people thought the exams were too difficult, but I thought that they were great. They tested concepts, not if you memorized a definition. I would recommend going through the PPTs a few nights before the exam and wherever you feel uncertain, re-listen to that part of the BruinCast.

Another plus - no textbook! The only reading we had to do were 5 interesting (and not too long) research papers which were discussed in section. These articles did appear on the exams, but the questions about them were always fair and not nitpicky at all. Section also involved a group project which was very tedious, but it helps you grow as you continue to learn how to deal with working with others.

All in all, I adored this class and can't wait to take more classes from Professor Goff. She is just amazing!

This is all you need to know about the class:

-Professor Goff is very funny and her lectures are entertaining, so attend them even though attendance isn't necessary.
-All of her lectures are recorded and posted on CCLE along with the lecture slides which is great for studying or if you can't make it to class.
-There are two midterms, the one with the lowest score is dropped. (If you ace the first one, you don't even need to show up for the second one!)
-Exams are multiple choice but can be tricky (questions are not based on memorization) so make sure you thoroughly understand everything.
-The group project (literature review) isn't too bad and there are only 5 research articles the entire quarter that you need to read and analyze in Discussion.
-Don't underestimate the class, put in the work.
-The topics are all very interesting, I would take this class again!

Professor Goff is one of those professors you have to have before graduating. She cares about student learning and makes sure that everyone understands the material. The only (optional) thing you have to buy for her class is TopHat, and that's only if you want extra credit.

The grade distribution for her class is as follows:
Midterm (you take two and she drops the lowest one): 50 points
Final: 50 points
Discussion: 50 points (15 for attendance, 10 for participation, 25 for written assignments)
Extra Credit: 1% overall grade boost for participation on 50-79% of TopHat questions, 2% for 80+%, and 3% if you have one of the top 5 scores on the questions

She records her own lectures and posts the slides before the end of the week. Her lectures are engaging and she takes questions and asks TopHat questions during. Although attendance isn't mandatory, I would still recommend going to lecture because the exams are entirely based off of lecture. Even so, I have rarely zoned off because she puts videos of kids being cute, or finds a way to relate the material to your own life. She also drops your lowest midterm score and offers extra credit for participation; you don't even need to answer the questions correctly. I would still recommend buying TopHat for the quarter, however, because her exam questions are just like the TopHat questions. She also holds extra office hours during finals week, and hosts a review session prior to each exam at the end of class.

Overall, Professor Goff is one of the most engaging, caring, and dedicated professors you'll have at UCLA. She clearly cares about children, and you'll leave her class loving children as well, as well as having learned about human development.

One of my favorite classes ever. Her lectures are clear and engaging, plus she drops your lowest midterm score.

Take this class. Just do it.