I loved this class! Professor Coffey was incredible and so educated at teaching this class. I took APES in high school and I was very prepared for this class. I'm a history major so I'm not a huge science person but I loved this class so much I'm in another EPSSCI class this quarter. He is a great person also and just such a funny guy.
I also appreciated his use of a clear mask the whole quarter. I have a hearing impairment and I was able to read his lips which was BEYOND helpful. My TA was lowkey dry, but he was good at teaching and seemed genuinely engaged. Loved this class

Professor Coffey is so passionate about earth science that it is almost contagious. His lectures were always very clear and fun to listen to and the class itself was quite interesting. I only missed one lecture (which I wasn't expecting considering it was a 9 am) and I still wish that I had been able to go.

For context, here's the grade breakdown:
- 30% - 2 midterms
- 25% - weekly labs
- 10% - 4 hw assignments
- 15% - popular science book presentation
- 20% - final

The exams are based on questions that Professor Coffey puts at the beginning of his slides for each lecture. As long as you can answer all those questions from memory, you'll be set to do well on exams.

The labs were generally straightforward question-and-answer style assignments. The most difficult part was mineral identification, but the TA was super helpful and most of the class was usually able to get these identifications right. For in person labs, they even allowed students to come back during office hours and try again at re-identifying minerals if they had gotten them wrong the first time. (If they got them right during office hours, then they would get the points back). There was also a quick 5 minute group presentation which was assigned, but it wasn't difficult, especially when you split the presentation up with others. The TA I had (Jake) was very understanding and made labs a lot more fun then I imagined they would be.

The homework assignments were definitely a bit harder than labs since they required more application of concepts learned in class, but Professor Coffey and the TAs were always willing to answer questions about them during office hours.

The popular science book presentation was also pretty straightforward - just pick a book related to earth science in some way and give a 7 minute presentation on it including a summary, connection to 2 research paper abstracts cited by the author/related to the topic, and your opinion on the book.

Overall, I would highly recommend this class! Even though the workload sounds a bit much, none of the work is very difficult and you'll have plenty of support if you need it.

Overall, I enjoyed taking this class. The homework/labs were pretty tedious, but other than that no complaints. Lectures were uploaded onto ccle, making the class flexible. When it comes to answering students' questions, he was very communicative and provided lots of support especially during office hours. He answers to emails quickly and overall a great professor!

There are two midterms which are non-cumulative and a final. His tests are very fair and mainly consist of the goals that are provided for each chapter. Definitely just a lot of memorization.. shoutout quizlet

Everyone in my lab section was pretty collaborative to we'd all work together on labs. Labs mainly consisted of rock identification and using google earth. My TA, Zach, was really chill.

Super engaging lectures and really light workload so I definitely recommend as a GE. The TAs were all super nice too, I had Zach and he was awesome! The only drawback was how long it took for grades to be posted; we didn't get our grades for the first midterm back by the time we took our second midterm which kind of sucked. But other than that it was a great class and actually made some boring stuff seem super interesting.

I really liked how there were clear objectives posted at the beginning of each lecture and how the tests were directly based on the lectures. I did not ever go to class live; rather, I watched the recordings and took notes based on the objectives. I studied the notes and got high A's on the tests. The tests are super easy if you know the goals well. The labs were harder though. Tests are 50% of the grade and the labs and other assignments are the other 50%, and although that's probably done with the intention of making things fairer, interestingly I think I would have done much better if the tests accounted for more. The labs require skills and knowledge that aren't directly covered in the lectures, so I'd definitely recommend working on them with others rather than by yourself. I had Zach as my TA and he was very chill. Also, Professor Coffey responds to emails in a timely manner which is super helpful. He also regularly sends announcements about the upcoming assignments and tests.

I liked Professor Coffey. He was always very enthusiastic and funny in an endearingly awkward kind of way, and his lectures were laden with under-appreciated jokes. That being said I was not a huge fan of this class by the end of it. Overall workload was manageable, but some of the labs and HW assignments were just so tedious, especially those where you had to ID a bunch different kinds of rocks. I guess this is to be expected in a geology course, but still. Tests were entirely based on goals provided in each lecture, and in spite of doing nothing but study the goals prior to each exam I still got Bs on both midterms and the final. He does not curve any of the exams, so I feel like you need to study quite a bit to get a good grade in the class.

If you just study the goals that he provides, you will be guaranteed an A on the exams. Professor Coffey makes the material easy to digest and is often very funny. He even made accommodations where if we couldn't make it to a lab section, lecture or even to our exam days, he would hold make-up exams or other opportunities to get full points. There were 2 midterms (not cumulative), and a final that was cumulative. Lecture attendance was not mandatory, and I really only attended 2 of them since they were posted afterwards anyway. There was no textbook, and he rarely gave out homework assignments which were actually a bit fun to do. He does suggest doing some extra Wikipedia readings, but if you don't do them, you'll still be fine. Labs were a bit more difficult to get full points on, and I realize that I just suck at looking at rocks. There was a group presentation in the beginning, and then an individual book presentation at the end. I had Zach as my TA, and he was pretty chill.

This class is definitely a bit of work, and the lecture material can be a bit dry. But Prof Coffey is awesome and engaging, even though geology isn't my cup of tea. The tests are a bit tough (I got Bs on both), but there are enough labs and assignments to get an A in the class if you do the work. Definitely not a super easy A, but certainly a manageable one.

I loved this professor! You can really tell he is passionate about what he teaches. Even though everything was online, he managed to make class engaging.

This has been one of the most enjoyable classes I've taken at UCLA. Professor Coffey is awesome, and his lectures are funny and engaging. Tests are super fair, and he gives fair homework assignments with reasonable deadlines. This class literally kept me going through this absolute nightmare of a quarter, so major props to him for that. If you have the opportunity to take this class (even just for fun like I did), I highly encourage you to take it! Not very difficult if you put in enough effort (which is a medium amount, not a ton).