*COVID-19 Review, this will likely differ from in-person*

There are two possible grading schemes and she'll give grades based on whichever one turns out higher.
1: 22.5% for each of two midterms, 25% final exam, 15% labs, 15% online homework
2: 15% for each of two midterms, 40% final exam, 15% labs, 15% online homework

There's also an extra credit opportunity that can bump up your grade by 3% - worth about one sign (for example, an 84% is raised to an 87%, B --> B+)

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Overall, I personally had a decent enough experience with this class. I personally find the subject of astronomy interesting and thus didn't struggle. That said, I know others who struggled a bit more, so I think this class may not necessarily be easy for everyone. If you have absolutely no interest in astronomy, for example, this class probably isn't for you. Of course, if you are interested, you'll be more inclined to enjoy it. I am also a south campus major, which may also play a factor in how easy I found it.

Professor Turner is clearly quite knowledgeable and passionate about astronomy. Her lectures can sometimes be a bit dry though, and she often goes a bit deep into full calculations or physics concepts that are ultimately not tested. I also feel like this class was a bit disorganized at the beginning of this quarter, as the times for lectures were changed in order to put two sections of online lectures together into one. Of course, I doubt this would be a problem for in-person lectures. Just keep aware that the amount of depth of the calculations she gets into isn't necessary knowledge for the exams. Attendance to lectures isn't mandatory, and the slides are posted online.

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The homework is all online using Kudu. The questions are all multiple choice. The lowest score is dropped. Each assignment has some crash course astronomy videos attached to it that help explain the concepts in a slightly simpler manner. The questions usually weren't too hard, but sometimes there were a few questions that didn't seem to be explicitly in the videos or lectures. That said, with some logical reasoning and internet searching, you could still find the answer to these questions without much struggle.

There were 8 weekly labs with pre-labs due beforehand. Attendance to discussion sections was required and taken into account for the labs. In section, we were broken into groups (via breakout rooms during online class) in order to help each other with the lab. I personally felt the labs were reasonable to complete within the discussion periods and didn't find them too difficult, though they were definitely the heaviest work of the class. There were some questions that were more difficult to understand, but with the help of peers and/or the TA, I found these questions answerable. I imagine some of the labs would have been more enjoyable in person though; one of the labs, which we did on a stargazing app, is apparently usually done in the planetarium on campus.

The exams were all multiple choice through CCLE, and most of the questions were honestly pretty easy. Professor Turner provided practice exam questions on Kudu, and oftentimes the practice questions reappeared identically on the actual exam. Many of the remaining questions came directly from the homework, and the ones that weren't on the homework or practice test were on the lecture slides. With online school, everything was open note/book which made everything even easier. Even if this is not the case in person, you can probably study the slides which are posted online, and make a Quizlet with all the homework questions and practice test questions in order to perform well.

There was an extra credit paper worth 3% of our grade. Usually, it involves something people can do on campus (like going to the planetarium based on what professor told us), but this year that was not possible. We instead had to take a selfie with the Super Flower Blood Moon and write a short paper about the moon. It was a bit annoying to have to take the selfie late at night, but on the other hand, many people stay up late anyway, and the selfie could have been taken during any phase of the eclipse. It did take a bit of effort, but getting full credit on the assignment also raised grades by a fairly significant amount - most other professors I've encountered offer 0.25%-1% or so for filling out the course evaluation, so the extra effort for this assignment seemed like an equivalent trade-off.

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Overall, I personally would take this class again. If you're a south campus major or are pretty interested in astronomy, I think you'll do great. If you're not too interested and aren't particularly math/science-oriented, it may be a bit harder. That said, if you put in enough effort into this class, you'll probably still be able to walk away with an A anyway. Just know the degree of difficulty will vary by your interest.

She wasn't my professor actually... I'm just here to sell the textbook (the orange one) ;) It's a binder edition bought new in good condition. Go it for $120 smfh so I'm willing to sell for $80. I live on-campus so I can deliver faster than Amazon for free. Hmu if interested: *************

This was one of the first classes I've ever taken in my first quarter. Everything was still online so the professor was very understanding, and communicative. I will say there is a lot of content, but it's a fun GE. However, I'm not the best at math, like in a concerning way, so the labs did pose a threat to me in more ways than one. However the labs were also really cool, they take you up to the planetarium for one of them. The Professor does get caught up in her proffession and sometimes forgets that it's a GE class, but she was always open to ask questions after class to explain anything.

I’m so sorry but I could not pay attention every time she talked I just tuned out

The professors lectures were easy enough to understand until she would talk a lot about physics which we were in no way being tested on. It made the lectures hard to retain. Astronomy is so interesting but she made it quite dry. I didn't have a great time in this class. Not an easy A at all and is in fact quite a difficult GE. Open note midterms and finals were great but I doubt that'll be the case for those who have to take this class in person. The professor is very knowledgeable but the material was so hard to retain. I don't really think I learned all that much.

There were two lectures a week and a lab. Both are very manageable. The labs were quite doable as long as you put in the work and worked together with your assigned group, and consulted the TA when necessary. The key to this class however, are the lecture slides. If you studied them religiously and made yourself a study guide based off of them, the tests were incredibly easy. Do yourself a favor and take notes on the text in the lectures, you will thank yourself come midterm and final time.

Interesting class, with a low workload except for the lab component. Labs were long and dreary, to be honest, but my TA was kind and helped us out when we were stuck.

Professor Turner's kudu system is good. It's an online platform with an online textbook and videos to watch, with quizzes each week. The videos were entertaining, and the quizzes were fair.

I stopped going to lecture entirely the last two weeks of quarter - this was mainly because of my own intense schedule, but also because sometimes her lectures, while interesting and clearly put together with effort, were a little unclear and jumbled and kudu content was very straightforward.

Highly recommend for an interesting, light-workload GE.

Astro 3 with Turner is a great GE choice if your looking to fulfill a lab requirement. She is the head of the astronomy apartment and does take her work seriously, but she is also pretty chill with answering question and helping out at office hours if necessary. I believe there is a midterm and a final both which were easy. The lab is annoying but an easy way to boost your grade. She also gives 2% extra credit points if you visit the Griffith Observatory . Overall easy A if you put in minimal effort I would highly recommend.

She's kind of a boring lecturer, but you can tell that she feels enthisiastic about the material and teaching it. The material itself is actually really interesting, and she and the textbook do a good job explaining it. The labs and homework are really easy, and the exams generally had really high scores. Also, the class is curved against the last 5 years, which helps. She's also a fairly nice and approachable professor, and I found the class to be an easy and interesting GE.

SELLING TEXTBOOK- Astronomy-Universe at a Glance by Chaisson and McMillan
ISBN 978-0-321-79976-0
email me if interested- *************