ASTR 3
Nature of the Universe
Description: Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two hours. Not open to students with credit for or currently enrolled in course 81 or 82. No special mathematical preparation required beyond that necessary for admission to UCLA in freshman standing. Course for general UCLA students, normally not intending to major in physical sciences. Introduction to vast range of cosmic phenomena including planets in our solar system and beyond, stars, supernova explosions, black holes, galaxies, and universe as whole. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
3 of 5
Most Helpful Review
DO NOT TAKE MALKAN FOR ASTRO 3 ... I REPEAT ... DO NOT TAKE MALKAN FOR ASTRO 3 ... take Mclean ... Malkan does not understand that this is a GE class nor non-science majors ... his midterms and finals are very specific ... and even his take home quizzes are hard ... Astro 3 is supposed to be fun and easy ... he made it aweful and hard ... he is a super nice guy with a zest for the topic ... but don't take him and think you'll get an A in astro 3 ... you take him and pray for a B!
DO NOT TAKE MALKAN FOR ASTRO 3 ... I REPEAT ... DO NOT TAKE MALKAN FOR ASTRO 3 ... take Mclean ... Malkan does not understand that this is a GE class nor non-science majors ... his midterms and finals are very specific ... and even his take home quizzes are hard ... Astro 3 is supposed to be fun and easy ... he made it aweful and hard ... he is a super nice guy with a zest for the topic ... but don't take him and think you'll get an A in astro 3 ... you take him and pray for a B!
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - I wish there had been a review for Mognet before I signed up for this class, so I'm doing it now for anyone considering it. If at all possible, I would recommend finding another teacher for Astro 3. I signed up because I needed to fulfill one last easy GE requirement, and it ended up taking more of my time than my actual major classes. I don't know how other teachers have structured this class, but reading 2-3 long chapters with online homework that can be 30-45 questions per week felt kind of ridiculous. I stopped going to class after first midterm, as all the time spent with my nose in the book basically made lecture pointless (and I still ended up getting an A on midterm 2). The labs were also totally unrelated. Basically, if you have to take Astro 3 with Mognet, do the reading as you do the homework, use the uploaded lectures as rough study guides, and try to hurry through the labs to save an hour in your day. For this quarter he said he wants to curve the average up to a B+, which will make a huge difference because most people are averaging low B's and C's right now. Also, the textbook is too expensive. You can find a pdf copy of the whole thing if you Google "u-cursos pdf Comic Perspective" (it's from a Chilean university). The only tricky thing would be getting the code for the online homework, but I'm sure it's still less expensive than buying the whole package.
Winter 2016 - I wish there had been a review for Mognet before I signed up for this class, so I'm doing it now for anyone considering it. If at all possible, I would recommend finding another teacher for Astro 3. I signed up because I needed to fulfill one last easy GE requirement, and it ended up taking more of my time than my actual major classes. I don't know how other teachers have structured this class, but reading 2-3 long chapters with online homework that can be 30-45 questions per week felt kind of ridiculous. I stopped going to class after first midterm, as all the time spent with my nose in the book basically made lecture pointless (and I still ended up getting an A on midterm 2). The labs were also totally unrelated. Basically, if you have to take Astro 3 with Mognet, do the reading as you do the homework, use the uploaded lectures as rough study guides, and try to hurry through the labs to save an hour in your day. For this quarter he said he wants to curve the average up to a B+, which will make a huge difference because most people are averaging low B's and C's right now. Also, the textbook is too expensive. You can find a pdf copy of the whole thing if you Google "u-cursos pdf Comic Perspective" (it's from a Chilean university). The only tricky thing would be getting the code for the online homework, but I'm sure it's still less expensive than buying the whole package.
Most Helpful Review
one of the worst professors i've ever had...he simply spits out facts and information without offering any valid explanations or understanding. do not take him for astro 3; we had substitute profs a few times, and they were sooooooo much more effective than ong. he seems like a really nice guy, but don't fall for it! when it comes to exams and grading, he's a hard-ass.
one of the worst professors i've ever had...he simply spits out facts and information without offering any valid explanations or understanding. do not take him for astro 3; we had substitute profs a few times, and they were sooooooo much more effective than ong. he seems like a really nice guy, but don't fall for it! when it comes to exams and grading, he's a hard-ass.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - astro 3 with professor petigura was amazing! I liked his lectures and the workload wasn't bad and the material was interesting but above all he was really helpful and caring throughout the entire quarter. our midterm was 24 hr and open note; our final was optional, 48 hr, open note, no harm. the exams were kinda hard though. I also liked that he recorded lectures and uploaded them on ccle. labs were fine, a bit difficult sometimes but the ta (alec) helped a lot. I wouldn't say the class is an easy a but it's also not super intense or anything. either way, astronomy is interesting as hell and I would definitely recommend :)
Spring 2020 - astro 3 with professor petigura was amazing! I liked his lectures and the workload wasn't bad and the material was interesting but above all he was really helpful and caring throughout the entire quarter. our midterm was 24 hr and open note; our final was optional, 48 hr, open note, no harm. the exams were kinda hard though. I also liked that he recorded lectures and uploaded them on ccle. labs were fine, a bit difficult sometimes but the ta (alec) helped a lot. I wouldn't say the class is an easy a but it's also not super intense or anything. either way, astronomy is interesting as hell and I would definitely recommend :)
Most Helpful Review
Dr. Reitzel is awesome. His lectures are not boring. He is so animated: he uses props and demonstrations to help everyone understand. He's super funny, likes cool music and is an all around nice guy. Just don't talk while he's trying to, or he'll get annoyed. This is a good class to get rid of a GE requirement while getting a decent grade. The tests are only 10 multiple choice and 5 short answer so you must know the material or your grade on it can be easily lowered. As long as you attend study sessions and actually re-read lecture notes and homeworks, you should be fine. Ooh, and Peter Plavchan is the best!! I love him, he is the best TA ever. Really nice, really tall... take his section if you can!
Dr. Reitzel is awesome. His lectures are not boring. He is so animated: he uses props and demonstrations to help everyone understand. He's super funny, likes cool music and is an all around nice guy. Just don't talk while he's trying to, or he'll get annoyed. This is a good class to get rid of a GE requirement while getting a decent grade. The tests are only 10 multiple choice and 5 short answer so you must know the material or your grade on it can be easily lowered. As long as you attend study sessions and actually re-read lecture notes and homeworks, you should be fine. Ooh, and Peter Plavchan is the best!! I love him, he is the best TA ever. Really nice, really tall... take his section if you can!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - NOTE: I took this class during COVID-19 quarantine online. I don't know how different it was from a regular Astro 3 course, but I thought it was relatively easy. -LOTS of online coursework, all answers can be found online. I usually finished within 20-30 mins -Participation isn't necessary with lab sessions, just make sure you turn in the labs every week. One week it was just me and the TA doing my whole lab together. It like office hours and honestly great. -Rich is a boring lecturer, but honestly all the info on the slides are crucial to beating the exams. Just go over each of the slides in depth. Know them all. Strengths- The content of this class is so cool. I looked forward to learning about whatever the new topic was for the week, and it was even more interesting to see how each topic built on one another as the course progressed. Professor Rich is incredibly open to students asking questions and always gave us an opportunity to seek help when we needed it. I really appreciated that. Weaknesses- Professor Rich can be somewhat of a boring lecturer. He sometimes goes off on tangents about something that he discovered that relates to what we're learning, but has no resounding significance to the course. Additionally, the Mastering Astronomy assignments are quite pointless and I don't even see most of that information on tests. Overall, a great class and I would highly recommend it to another student who is looking for an interesting G.E. that will keep them busy with lots of information to take in. Professor Rich is passionate and I enjoyed going to his lectures to listen to him talk about the universe!
Spring 2020 - NOTE: I took this class during COVID-19 quarantine online. I don't know how different it was from a regular Astro 3 course, but I thought it was relatively easy. -LOTS of online coursework, all answers can be found online. I usually finished within 20-30 mins -Participation isn't necessary with lab sessions, just make sure you turn in the labs every week. One week it was just me and the TA doing my whole lab together. It like office hours and honestly great. -Rich is a boring lecturer, but honestly all the info on the slides are crucial to beating the exams. Just go over each of the slides in depth. Know them all. Strengths- The content of this class is so cool. I looked forward to learning about whatever the new topic was for the week, and it was even more interesting to see how each topic built on one another as the course progressed. Professor Rich is incredibly open to students asking questions and always gave us an opportunity to seek help when we needed it. I really appreciated that. Weaknesses- Professor Rich can be somewhat of a boring lecturer. He sometimes goes off on tangents about something that he discovered that relates to what we're learning, but has no resounding significance to the course. Additionally, the Mastering Astronomy assignments are quite pointless and I don't even see most of that information on tests. Overall, a great class and I would highly recommend it to another student who is looking for an interesting G.E. that will keep them busy with lots of information to take in. Professor Rich is passionate and I enjoyed going to his lectures to listen to him talk about the universe!
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3 of 5
