I personally really like Scerri. If you're like me and have always had trouble understanding chemistry in the past, then Scerri might be a good professor for you. I like how he takes concepts and explains them in such simple words whereas many others would use complex terminology. He gives some good analogies, clear explanations, and has some humor in his lectures. My suggestion for doing well in this class? Watch the thinkwell videos, do ALL the practice midterms/exams that he gives you and understand how to do each problem, and rewatch lectures on bruincast if necessary. Overall, just understand the concepts, and if you do those three things, you should be able to understand it well. Studying in groups will also help because you're explaining the concepts to one another.

I definitely recommend Scerri!

Great professor! Literally all you need to do is just memorize the course reader. Along with that look at past midterms and finals for each. He repeats questions from old exams and other questions are similar to old exams. He is way easier than Lavelle for 14A. I know people who are waiting till Spring quarter just to take 14B with Scerri. It depends on your preference... Lavelle is way more structured in his homework, points, and etc. For Lavelle you will be using your big chem book a lot. However, for Scerri he goes only on what is on his course reader. He is way more conceptual driven than Lavelle and his exams have much less math on them. For 14A we only had one math problem on the midterm and the final. The rest were conceptual questions about the material. Also Scerri's class is set up in a way where you can pull yourself back up if you suck on the midterm. I got a C+ on the midterm, but I pulled an A- in the class because I did really well on the online quizzes and homework. For his online quizzes many answers are online (yahooanswers). The final was so easy. Literally my TA told me that he made the final so that people could finish in 2 hours (You have 3 hours for it). I saw people get up and leave an hour into the final and it only took me an hour and a half. Overall, I would definitely take Scerri over Lavelle every time because

1. Class is more conceptual
2. Quizzes are way easier because they are online and you have unlimited time per quiz
3. The amount of homework is much less
4. He is much funnier

There is one thing to note... If you can't take a joke then do not go to his office hours or ask dumb questions because he will call you out on it. He is not mean he just has a dry sense of humor. I thought he was funny, but I know some people thought that he was mean. Just do not ask questions that he just answered or aren't relevant at all.

Scerri was overall an ok professor. As a person, he seems a little egotistical, so that bothered me a little. Do the online quizzes with other people, and do past midterms and you'll be fine. And most of all, "MEMORIZE THE SHIT OUT OF THE COURSE READER." Some of the answers to his final questions are taken word for word from it.

I was enrolled in Prof. Scerri's class for Chemistry, but I attended both his and Prof. Lavelle's lectures every class (Lavelle's after the first two or so weeks of school). Like most people say, both Professors have pros and cons, but I found that Prof. Scerri's exams weigh MUCH heavier on concepts and explanations whereas Prof. Lavelle's weigh heavier on the mathematics side of things. Prof. Lavelle goes much faster than Prof. Scerri as well which personally didn't bother me because I had an excellent AP Chem teacher in high school so I could follow the material relatively well. Overall, I thought Prof. Scerri's class was pretty interesting, a lot of it was review but it was definitely more in depth than my previous chemistry class, so focusing wasn't difficult. I didn't do so well on the midterm which is why even though I did better on the final, I made a B overall in the class. Some of the questions are very tricky and nit-picky, so be cautious of that. If you miss a very small part of an explanation, you might start losing points on questions and it will add up and hit you badly. All I can say, is that you would be wise to start studying early and stay on top of things because for the most part, everything ties together and things get PRETTY specific. However, I thought both Professors were very knowledgeable, so when you get right down to it, choose whichever professor is available since chem 14A fills fast, and give preference to the professor who's exams are reflections of the best ways you display knowledge of the material (conceptual/explanations or mathematical).

I end up with an A, but I don't like him. He is very arrogant. Once I went to him to ask some question. He asked me "aren't u in my class?" No matter why people say that he is mean and rude.
He is so conceptual. I don't know whether learning different kinds of periodic table can help us pursue study in life science.
The class itself is not bad. But I HATE HIM

I would HIGHLY recommend taking Scerri's class for 14A. I came into UCLA with no chem experience (except regular chem my freshman year of high school) and I ended up getting a B- in the class. Obviously not great, but not horrible and I bet I could have done even better had I made sure to stay on top of the concepts along the way. Chem is tricky, but Scerri actually made the class fun (he played his electric guitar in class and it was sick- oh and he does some cool light tricks with lasers and hair... take the class to find out).

To succeed in the class, WATCH THE THINKWELL VIDEOS. Especially if learning chemistry is going to be like learning a new language for you (because for me, before the class I barely even remembered what a "mole" was, and titrations were basically just something done in labs.) Also, go to office hours when you need to. Oh, and get to know the professor and he will want to help you learn. He is super cool, so make the most out of the class by engaging yourself in it, and don't fall behind because catching up sucks.

If I could do the class over again, I would have gone to every office hour. I would not have been afraid to ask all my questions. I would have made sure I understood each concept along the way, rather than catching up 1 week before the midterm/final (PS to all you new students: please study at least 1 week in advance not the night before, you will need it).

Anyways, since this is a teacher evaluation, I 100% recommend taking Scerri's class. He was an awesome teacher, and I learned a lot from him and his class. The course reader he made is really to the point with the facts you need to know, and the Thinkwell vids and his lectures fill in the gaps. Not to mention, if you actually understand what is going on, chemistry is actually really neat (yea i just used that word). Good luck!

Professor Scerri obviously has a vast amount of knowledge regarding the topic, and it's a pleasure having an educator who is actually passionate about the topic he teaches. His lectures are highly organized and he does not overcomplicate the explanations. He presents the information very clearly and precisely, and this is very useful to go over on Bruincast while studying. I appreciate how he takes the time to repeat new material for added emphasis and include other facts that may be helpful during studying that he may not have mentioned before. He covers a lot of ground efficiently and is definitely experienced in knowing best how to clarify a concept to a confused student.

That being said, the class itself is not "easy." You have to not only memorize the course reader, but understand it and apply the concepts. People have said to go over the practice problems because those are going to be the exact same questions as on the midterm/final. I agree that the old tests are excellent practice, but it is faulty to assume that the questions will be the same. Not only might you be wrong and the questions be either slightly or completely different, rendering you hopeless, but it limits you. Sooner or later, you'll suffer for simply memorizing. Might as well actually learn the material, and not guess about which questions will be on the test.

That also being said, his office hours are pretty brilliant when it comes to extra help. He has them at least twice a week, and I recommend going if you have any questions. He will answer them effectively. If you still don't understand what he meant, you can ask him additional questions and he won't hesitate to help you out. Don't be afraid to ask questions! Despite certain comments (that honestly I believe to be extremely overdramatized), I feel that Professor Scerri really enjoys teaching his favorite subject and likes his students.
As to his personality, I'd say he is a genuinely good person with a witty sense of humor. He is also an excellent guitarist.

Also, TA's are great. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Discussions very useful, recommend going (even if they're at 8 AM).

Scerri is brilliant, but an awful teacher.

I absolutely hated his lectures. They were incredibly disorganized and based on his awful course reader. Even though he's been teaching this class (and using the same course reader) for years, he makes tons of mistakes EVERY lecture. You'd think he'd have fixed his course reader by now...

I get the feeling that he doesn't prepare at all for his lectures: I assume that he just goes to class, glances at his course reader, and assumes that he remembers everything because he's been doing it for so long, but his lack of practice completely shows.

His Thinkwell quizzes (homework) have NOTHING to do with what he lectures about in class. I read the textbook in order to do the quizzes, so that saved me. In fact, I had to read the textbook numerous times in order to actually understand his course reader...

I always wished I could ditch class because his lectures never made sense, but since all the exams were based entirely on the course reader, you have to go to class. I got an A in 14A because I basically memorized the course reader, did a bunch of old practice tests for the midterm/final, and made sure to do well on the homework.

All in all, I think Scerri is one of the best examples of a typical public university professor who's here to do research and doesn't care about teaching undergrads. I got the feeling that he cared more about his ego than his students.

*Chem 14A AND Chem 14B*

Professor Scerri is pretty good, but I’m not sure if it’s better to take him over Lavelle. First off, 14A is really easy regardless. If you struggle in this course, you should definitely think about changing your study habits and go to more discussions. To do well in this course, you have to do well on the midterm. I got a 96 on the midterm and I was pretty set for course, despite a relatively difficult final.

14B was a different story. The midterm was much harder and the final was really long. He skimmed over organic chemistry and structures really quickly, so I walked out of that class knowing very little about that. I think I took 14B lightly after doing well in 14A, so that definitely hurt me. However, if you put in the work, you should do well.

Thinkwell sucks. The problems are always worded weirdly. However, you should definitely actually watch the videos and read the script. This will help you answer most of the questions. Try to get 100% on all the assignments, since you do get multiple chances. The written homework is pretty easy too, but make sure to not make silly mistakes.

Overall, I found Scerri to be decent. I didn’t expect an amazing chemistry professor, but I wish he was more friendly. He is not afraid to call someone out for a stupid question or for talking in class. He also markets himself a lot and never forgets to mention his book. Class is always entertaining though (as long as you get called out).

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