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- Santina Michelle Consiglio
- ASTR 3
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Based on 4 Users
TOP TAGS
- Uses Slides
- Needs Textbook
- Gives Extra Credit
- Would Take Again
- Tolerates Tardiness
- Often Funny
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Overall, I think this is an easy A GE. If you have any interest in the topic of astronomy, then I'd definitely recommend taking it. Dr. Consiglio's lectures are more detailed than the tests are, so the lectures can seem overwhelmingly dense with information. She uses two different grading schemes and will use the one that gives you a higher grade which is nice.
Option 1: 20% for each of the midterms, 30% final exam, 20% labs, 10% online assignments
Option 2: 12.5% for each of the midterms, 50% final exam, 20% labs, 5% online assignments
The midterms are pretty easy, all multiple-choice, with only a few very specific questions. The final was the easiest as she pulled a lot from the study guide she assigns and the midterms. The labs could sometimes be confusing, but your TA can help you a lot and you can most likely get 100% in this category. The online assignments are done on Kudu, where you just watch CrashCourse videos and answer questions. She gave multiple chances to get each of these questions right, and you can find the answers online if you can't find them in the video. She also offers 3% extra credit (2% for going to Griffith, and 1% for going to the UCLA telescopes). Sometimes her explanations of the more confusing concepts aren't that clear, but she's willing to answer all questions during lecture and re-explain things. She's also really nice and unintimidating.
Overall I would say that this class was an easy GE. The material is super engaging - it covers the mind-boggling distances and masses, such as the distance from our galaxy to the nearest galaxy being some millions of light years and the mass of our sun being compressed into areas the size of LA etc. Prof. Consiglio was also very enthusiastic about the lecture material and made a good effort to convey her love of astronomy to the class, as her slides were interesting. Also, the homework was all online on Kudu - an online textbook/quiz site for $50. The homework was mainly based on the videos included on the website, from Crash Course Astronomy - these videos were very interesting and watching them didn't feel like studying. The labs were very easy and I usually finished a good time before they ended. The exams were also pretty easy - all multiple choice, based mainly on homework stuff along with a bit of lecture material. Practice exams were extremely useful as some questions were even re-used on the actual exams. Also, 3% extra credit was possible - 2% for going to Griffith observatory and 1% for something else, however I didn't avail this.
Now for the donwsides - it is not very easy to take notes in the class as Prof. Consiglio moves along pretty quick and sometimes she skips slides altogether. Unless you have a laptop and can type reasonably fast (~50 wpm), note taking won't be worth it. All the lectures were available on CCLE afterwards anyway however they're usually about. 60% fluff 40% material. Also, the online textbook Kudu was a bit irritating as I don't usually like to watch videos and I found it very difficult to answer the homework questions with just the text as the questions usually asked for very specific facts only mentioned in the video. The exams were easy however sometimes they would ask very specific facts (such as the orbital period of the moon) which was annoying - for the first midterm we were told that it would focus more on concepts than facts but this was not the case.
Overall I would recommend this class if you want an easy GE (especially if its P/NP like me). It can be a bit hard to study for the class but it's so easy that it doesn't matter anyway. As long as you have a decent memory for random things like the rough temperature of the surface of the sun, you should have no problem getting an A.
Overall, I think this is an easy A GE. If you have any interest in the topic of astronomy, then I'd definitely recommend taking it. Dr. Consiglio's lectures are more detailed than the tests are, so the lectures can seem overwhelmingly dense with information. She uses two different grading schemes and will use the one that gives you a higher grade which is nice.
Option 1: 20% for each of the midterms, 30% final exam, 20% labs, 10% online assignments
Option 2: 12.5% for each of the midterms, 50% final exam, 20% labs, 5% online assignments
The midterms are pretty easy, all multiple-choice, with only a few very specific questions. The final was the easiest as she pulled a lot from the study guide she assigns and the midterms. The labs could sometimes be confusing, but your TA can help you a lot and you can most likely get 100% in this category. The online assignments are done on Kudu, where you just watch CrashCourse videos and answer questions. She gave multiple chances to get each of these questions right, and you can find the answers online if you can't find them in the video. She also offers 3% extra credit (2% for going to Griffith, and 1% for going to the UCLA telescopes). Sometimes her explanations of the more confusing concepts aren't that clear, but she's willing to answer all questions during lecture and re-explain things. She's also really nice and unintimidating.
Overall I would say that this class was an easy GE. The material is super engaging - it covers the mind-boggling distances and masses, such as the distance from our galaxy to the nearest galaxy being some millions of light years and the mass of our sun being compressed into areas the size of LA etc. Prof. Consiglio was also very enthusiastic about the lecture material and made a good effort to convey her love of astronomy to the class, as her slides were interesting. Also, the homework was all online on Kudu - an online textbook/quiz site for $50. The homework was mainly based on the videos included on the website, from Crash Course Astronomy - these videos were very interesting and watching them didn't feel like studying. The labs were very easy and I usually finished a good time before they ended. The exams were also pretty easy - all multiple choice, based mainly on homework stuff along with a bit of lecture material. Practice exams were extremely useful as some questions were even re-used on the actual exams. Also, 3% extra credit was possible - 2% for going to Griffith observatory and 1% for something else, however I didn't avail this.
Now for the donwsides - it is not very easy to take notes in the class as Prof. Consiglio moves along pretty quick and sometimes she skips slides altogether. Unless you have a laptop and can type reasonably fast (~50 wpm), note taking won't be worth it. All the lectures were available on CCLE afterwards anyway however they're usually about. 60% fluff 40% material. Also, the online textbook Kudu was a bit irritating as I don't usually like to watch videos and I found it very difficult to answer the homework questions with just the text as the questions usually asked for very specific facts only mentioned in the video. The exams were easy however sometimes they would ask very specific facts (such as the orbital period of the moon) which was annoying - for the first midterm we were told that it would focus more on concepts than facts but this was not the case.
Overall I would recommend this class if you want an easy GE (especially if its P/NP like me). It can be a bit hard to study for the class but it's so easy that it doesn't matter anyway. As long as you have a decent memory for random things like the rough temperature of the surface of the sun, you should have no problem getting an A.
Based on 4 Users
TOP TAGS
- Uses Slides (4)
- Needs Textbook (2)
- Gives Extra Credit (3)
- Would Take Again (3)
- Tolerates Tardiness (2)
- Often Funny (2)