Actual course taken: LS 15

Phelan is an amazing professor who draws you into the subject and topic like no other. His credentials might lend him off to be an intimidating guy, but he is nothing but kind and super approachable. He is a great lecturer and his lecture slides are concise, to the point, and very helpful. He makes you enjoy learning about LS because he relates everything to the real world and makes you apply scientific thinking to all aspects of everyday living.

The most important thing for doing well in Phelan's class is to go to lecture. His questions on the midterm and final are mostly based off on lecture and everything in his book expands on lecture ideas and themes. The midterm consists of 20 MCs and 6 short answers while the final consists of 30 MCs and 9 short answers. Besides the midterm and the final, you also have weekly quizzes that are given out in discussion sections. The quiz questions come from weekly problem sets that Phelan hands out during lecture so you essentially have time to prepare for each question. If you do not know the answers to the questions on the problem sets, just visit your TA. My TA was always happy to help with problem set questions. It was an easy way to rack up 12 points every week.

I am so happy that I took this class with Phelan. I came out learning a lot and worked my butt off for my A in the class, which I am very proud of. Phelan is awesome. Take him!

I had Professor Phelan for LS2 and ABOLUTELY loved the class!

Lectures: Professor Phelan is absolutely hilarious during lectures and incorporates funny stories from his own life to lighten the mood. However, he does cover a LOT of material in each lecture and you have to make sure to take as many notes as possible (laptop is recommended). Write down the slightest details as sometimes he may include them in multiple choice or even short answer questions. On average though, I really looked forward to going to lecture which is saying something.

Bruincast: I would really recommend using bruincast so that in class you don't have to be frantically writing down every word. If you miss something, don't worry about it, but go back and re-watch the lecture to catch anything you missed. Re-watching the lectures also really helps to study for the exams.

Lab: Go to discussions, talk as much as you can and ask questions. Do your best on the lab reports so you can gather up as many points as possible in case you do badly on an exam.

Book: I would recommend reading the chapters he assigns, however, if he doesn't mention something in class that IS mentioned in lecture, it's probably safe to skip it.

Exams: I was a little crunched for time on the midterms. Write quickly and don't spend too much time on the multiple choice. Write as clearly as possible and try and add in as many facts as possible because you gain points for mentioning specific things. Don't worry too much if the exam seemed hard because Professor Phelan is a very generous grader. On the second midterm, he made a 39% a passing grade.

Anyways, I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend Professor Phelan as this was one of my favorite classes I've taken so far at UCLA

I had Phelan for LS2, he IS a hard professor but after taking his class, you learn so much more and have such a fun time too. It was my hardest class taken so far at ucla but it was my favorite and he is my favorite professor. I think it was the day of one of the midterms he bought dozens of diddy reese cookies for everyone in the class, to lighten the mood a little bit. As far as his tests go, they are hard. the multiple choice is usually not too bad, but you have to really know details about everything ( I usually manage a B average on the multiple choice section). The open ended was really hard for me on the two midterms. Make sure you know the step-by-step lists he writes down for processes and things that he lectures on briefly may show up as an open ended question. I think I got a 68 or 67 on both midterms but by the final I had learned how to do the open ended (know specific details and steps of processes and it doesnt hurt to draw a picture!) and got an A on the final. I still ended up with a B in the class because of the two midterms so learn how to study for his class early on and you will do fine and you won't regret taking Phelan, he is amazing!