EPS SCI 8
Earthquakes
Description: Lecture, three hours; laboratory, one hour; one field day. Causes and effects of earthquakes. Plate motion, frictional faulting, earthquake instability, wave propagation, earthquake damage, and other social effects. Hazard reduction through earthquake forecasting and earthquake-resistant design. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - I am going to be honest, I hated this class. For a GE, this class was incredibly tedious and advanced. I am not a STEM major, so maybe that is why this class seemed extra difficult. The lectures were incredibly boring and we rarely finished the slides in class. I will say professor Peltzer is a very sweet looking professor. He clearly knows a lot about earthquakes. However, he is one of those professors that knows so much about his content, that it seems he expects we are just as familiar with the material. Most of which I will bet we have never seen before in school. The slides are posted, but there is no audio/video option I am aware of. That can be troubling since some of his slides are just abstract pictures. The grade breakdown included 1 midterm, 1 final, 7ish labs, 7ish reflections, and an extra credit assignment I believe. The tests were largely memorization based and often queried about random one-off facts that seemed irrelevant. I did finish with an A, but that is only because I am a decent test taker. If you struggle on tests, it will be difficult to feel successful in this class. Definitely not an easy GE.
Spring 2022 - I am going to be honest, I hated this class. For a GE, this class was incredibly tedious and advanced. I am not a STEM major, so maybe that is why this class seemed extra difficult. The lectures were incredibly boring and we rarely finished the slides in class. I will say professor Peltzer is a very sweet looking professor. He clearly knows a lot about earthquakes. However, he is one of those professors that knows so much about his content, that it seems he expects we are just as familiar with the material. Most of which I will bet we have never seen before in school. The slides are posted, but there is no audio/video option I am aware of. That can be troubling since some of his slides are just abstract pictures. The grade breakdown included 1 midterm, 1 final, 7ish labs, 7ish reflections, and an extra credit assignment I believe. The tests were largely memorization based and often queried about random one-off facts that seemed irrelevant. I did finish with an A, but that is only because I am a decent test taker. If you struggle on tests, it will be difficult to feel successful in this class. Definitely not an easy GE.
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Most Helpful Review
Salyards is a really nice guy and wants everyone to do well. I got an A- in the class with a very reasonable amount of effort. There are about four simple homework assignments beyond the labs which he grades very generously. The field trip can replace the lowest lab grade, but isn't really necessary because the TAs explain the answers on the labs. Every lecture is online, and after every lecture there is a 5 question online quiz which you take until you get a 100.
Salyards is a really nice guy and wants everyone to do well. I got an A- in the class with a very reasonable amount of effort. There are about four simple homework assignments beyond the labs which he grades very generously. The field trip can replace the lowest lab grade, but isn't really necessary because the TAs explain the answers on the labs. Every lecture is online, and after every lecture there is a 5 question online quiz which you take until you get a 100.
Most Helpful Review
First of all, this is a VERY easy class. You don't really have to take any notes at all, as he hands out a lecture packet with all the slides from his presentation, so if you find anything you deem important, you can write it in there. The labs are very easy, high school level worksheets which if you have any common sense you can get through fairly easily and get a good grade on it. The midterm was easy as well, and he handed out half the questions before hand as "quiz" for our own benefit. Professor Sornette himself is a very nice man, you can tell he genuinely cares about his students, and is quite funny as well. It is difficult to understand him at the beginning of the class as he has a pretty thick french accent, but it is quite humorous the way he pronounces some words, and he's not afraid to make fun of his dialect. I would definitely recommend taking this class from him for a GE.
First of all, this is a VERY easy class. You don't really have to take any notes at all, as he hands out a lecture packet with all the slides from his presentation, so if you find anything you deem important, you can write it in there. The labs are very easy, high school level worksheets which if you have any common sense you can get through fairly easily and get a good grade on it. The midterm was easy as well, and he handed out half the questions before hand as "quiz" for our own benefit. Professor Sornette himself is a very nice man, you can tell he genuinely cares about his students, and is quite funny as well. It is difficult to understand him at the beginning of the class as he has a pretty thick french accent, but it is quite humorous the way he pronounces some words, and he's not afraid to make fun of his dialect. I would definitely recommend taking this class from him for a GE.
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