EPS SCI 15
Blue Planet: Introduction to Oceanography
Description: Lecture, three hours; laboratory, two hours. Not open for credit to students with credit for or currently enrolled in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 25. General introduction to geological, physical, chemical, and biological processes and history of Earth's global ocean system. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
Pros: *Engaging lecturer, really funny *VERY WELL ORGANIZED *Pretty funny *Great at explaining things and connecting them to life. Cons: *Labs are both useless/timewasters and really informative. I don't know how to explain it. *Aurnou doesn't care about you, at all. You will get precisely the grade that you have earned. *The tests are harder than you think they'll be *DO NOT BOTHER buying any textbooks. He doesn't use them, it's a waste of money. *He does not test on anything that is relevant, instead choosing to test on silly facts that only test whether you paid exceptional attention to him.
Pros: *Engaging lecturer, really funny *VERY WELL ORGANIZED *Pretty funny *Great at explaining things and connecting them to life. Cons: *Labs are both useless/timewasters and really informative. I don't know how to explain it. *Aurnou doesn't care about you, at all. You will get precisely the grade that you have earned. *The tests are harder than you think they'll be *DO NOT BOTHER buying any textbooks. He doesn't use them, it's a waste of money. *He does not test on anything that is relevant, instead choosing to test on silly facts that only test whether you paid exceptional attention to him.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2018 - Dr. Jeana Drake is one my of my favorite professors I have ever had, and that is saying something as I have recently finished my undergraduate degree entirely and have taken many courses. She is engaging, caring, so smart, and communicates so well. Everything that is expected of you is very clear from the start, and she really takes the time to ensure that her students have the resources that they need. She is so kind and is so helpful in office hours, and really pursues her students to make sure that they have everything they need to succeed. Since meeting her, I have gotten to work with her in her lab and even though I am now at a different school, I still enjoy catching up with her and keeping each other in the loop. It has been almost 5 years since I took her course and I still feel as though she is a prominent guiding force through my scientific career. I cannot recommend her higher as a professor!!!
Summer 2018 - Dr. Jeana Drake is one my of my favorite professors I have ever had, and that is saying something as I have recently finished my undergraduate degree entirely and have taken many courses. She is engaging, caring, so smart, and communicates so well. Everything that is expected of you is very clear from the start, and she really takes the time to ensure that her students have the resources that they need. She is so kind and is so helpful in office hours, and really pursues her students to make sure that they have everything they need to succeed. Since meeting her, I have gotten to work with her in her lab and even though I am now at a different school, I still enjoy catching up with her and keeping each other in the loop. It has been almost 5 years since I took her course and I still feel as though she is a prominent guiding force through my scientific career. I cannot recommend her higher as a professor!!!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Overall, this class was ok. The way the midterms, final, and quizzes were worded made things very tricky. Also, I felt at times that if I didn't have an environmental science background, I'd be struggling to keep up with his teaching. His prerecorded lectures took a long time but he was very generous in his extra credits (like previous comments it can make or break your grade). That being said, I highly recommend doing every extra credit opportunity possible. I do agree that he probably wasn't going to make accommodations for this class (due to BLM) until he was pressed by ucla to do so. Anyways, keep up with the lectures, know the lab stuff, do the quizzes and extra credits and you should be fine.
Spring 2020 - Overall, this class was ok. The way the midterms, final, and quizzes were worded made things very tricky. Also, I felt at times that if I didn't have an environmental science background, I'd be struggling to keep up with his teaching. His prerecorded lectures took a long time but he was very generous in his extra credits (like previous comments it can make or break your grade). That being said, I highly recommend doing every extra credit opportunity possible. I do agree that he probably wasn't going to make accommodations for this class (due to BLM) until he was pressed by ucla to do so. Anyways, keep up with the lectures, know the lab stuff, do the quizzes and extra credits and you should be fine.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - I don't come from a STEM background nor am I smart, but I still managed to get an A- in this class largely because Professor Schauble is very generous with the grading of this class. First of all, an A- in this class is 88%. He also offers a maximum of 2% extra credit by watching and writing a short report on episodes of Planet Earth or Blue Planet, making an A- in this class basically an 86%. I got a C+ and a B- on the midterms and a B on the final and still got an A- in this class because of how the class was set up. The largest grade booster in this class is the lab section. Lab is a grueling two hours, but it was a necessary evil because the quizzes were really easy and made up a large portion of the grade. Showing up and doing the long worksheet made up another large portion of the grade, further diluting the weight of the exams. There is also a lab final, which is essentially a glorified lab quiz which makes up 10% of the grade. If you study for 15 minutes right before the quizzes, you'll get a 10/10. Therefore, if you study the quizzes that are handed back for about an hour, you should get 100+% (there is extra credit) on the lab final. As for the exams, they're actually somewhat difficult: the multiple choice is easy but the short answers actually require some deeper knowledge of the topics. Other reviewers have mentioned that you should read the textbook and you'll be fine. Although I'm sure it worked for some, but for me, it didn't help too much. The main reason why I did so much better on the final than on the midterms was because I stopped looking at the textbook as my predecessors have recommended and instead focused on the lecture material. All in all, it's a pretty decent class and you don't even need to show up to lecture. The content can be really boring at times, but for a relatively easy A, I'd say its worth it.
Fall 2019 - I don't come from a STEM background nor am I smart, but I still managed to get an A- in this class largely because Professor Schauble is very generous with the grading of this class. First of all, an A- in this class is 88%. He also offers a maximum of 2% extra credit by watching and writing a short report on episodes of Planet Earth or Blue Planet, making an A- in this class basically an 86%. I got a C+ and a B- on the midterms and a B on the final and still got an A- in this class because of how the class was set up. The largest grade booster in this class is the lab section. Lab is a grueling two hours, but it was a necessary evil because the quizzes were really easy and made up a large portion of the grade. Showing up and doing the long worksheet made up another large portion of the grade, further diluting the weight of the exams. There is also a lab final, which is essentially a glorified lab quiz which makes up 10% of the grade. If you study for 15 minutes right before the quizzes, you'll get a 10/10. Therefore, if you study the quizzes that are handed back for about an hour, you should get 100+% (there is extra credit) on the lab final. As for the exams, they're actually somewhat difficult: the multiple choice is easy but the short answers actually require some deeper knowledge of the topics. Other reviewers have mentioned that you should read the textbook and you'll be fine. Although I'm sure it worked for some, but for me, it didn't help too much. The main reason why I did so much better on the final than on the midterms was because I stopped looking at the textbook as my predecessors have recommended and instead focused on the lecture material. All in all, it's a pretty decent class and you don't even need to show up to lecture. The content can be really boring at times, but for a relatively easy A, I'd say its worth it.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - This class is quite a drag, but definitely worth to take if you need to get your lab credit done. Oceanography is not a subject that interests most and the lectures and labs can be painfully boring. Nevertheless, the class isn't at all difficult and getting an A shouldn't be too much of a challenge for most. It is important to be prepared for the weekly quizzes as they make up a pretty significant portion of the final grade and can at times be tricky, but still only require minimal studying for. For exams, it is just a simple game of memorizing facts from the lectures, they most certainly test on breadth not depth, and as long as you prepared well by rewatching lectures and going over slides, they are fairly easy. Overall, I wouldn't say this class should be anyone's first choice, however, it is certainly manageable and if you put in any amount of time studying it should be free.
Winter 2023 - This class is quite a drag, but definitely worth to take if you need to get your lab credit done. Oceanography is not a subject that interests most and the lectures and labs can be painfully boring. Nevertheless, the class isn't at all difficult and getting an A shouldn't be too much of a challenge for most. It is important to be prepared for the weekly quizzes as they make up a pretty significant portion of the final grade and can at times be tricky, but still only require minimal studying for. For exams, it is just a simple game of memorizing facts from the lectures, they most certainly test on breadth not depth, and as long as you prepared well by rewatching lectures and going over slides, they are fairly easy. Overall, I wouldn't say this class should be anyone's first choice, however, it is certainly manageable and if you put in any amount of time studying it should be free.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Oh my was this class easy. No tests, quizzes, exams. Just lecture notes that you can copy off the slides, chapter reading notes, a weekly lab assignment, 3 "lecture assignments", and a final video project. The lecture assignments were super easy, which involved either taking notes on a video, or answering a few questions from a large list such as definitions or converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit. This class required very minimal effort and is the easiest A I have gotten since middle school. Do anything you can to take this class.
Winter 2021 - Oh my was this class easy. No tests, quizzes, exams. Just lecture notes that you can copy off the slides, chapter reading notes, a weekly lab assignment, 3 "lecture assignments", and a final video project. The lecture assignments were super easy, which involved either taking notes on a video, or answering a few questions from a large list such as definitions or converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit. This class required very minimal effort and is the easiest A I have gotten since middle school. Do anything you can to take this class.
1 of 1
