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.

One of the easiest classes I've taken. No exams, just have to submit lecture and reading notes (I copied from slides, and bullet-pointed the chapter summaries and got full credit). Group project (or could be individual) at the end on basically anything related to oceanography. There were lecture assignments where you either watched videos and took notes or answer questions from a question bank.

Selling required textbook: "Essentials of Oceanography" Trujillo, Thurman 9th Edition

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Oops I just wanted to make a correction about my post below: The midterm average was a 77%, not 72%.

Sorry for lack of knowledge if there is an editing button on this board.

i took her Fiatlux course ESS 19 last quarter and I have to say that it was a very enjoyable class. I definitely have to disagree with some of the reviews here. Prof. Tripati is very approachable and if you are having problems understanding anything in the course she is more than happy to help! Some people here seem to have painted her as a monster but she really isn't! I would recommend this course for freshmen who may be thinking of taking it next year. There was a paper due at the end of the quarter but it could be about any topic that was covered in the course or even one in which you are very interested to write about.

Everyone needs to stop bitching, not that hard of a class, just deal with the hour 15 minutes lecture pay attention, reread the slides before the tests and your'e good. She is also very nice despite her doubtful teaching methods but she is a beginner so its understandable. The material in the class is easy unless you think you can just slide by hoping to memorize a few things and bullshit the rest. She also has a sense of humor.

This professor is definitely a genius- started college when she was 12, and she does all this intense research...but being incredibly smart does not make you a good teacher. Prof. Tripati's lectures consist of 100-slide Powerpoints, and she just reads the first 40 (at most) and then says you're responsible for the rest of the slideshow. That actually wouldn't be that bad if you could just skip lecture (since the slides are online)...OH BUT WAIT, you have to go to lecture because there are POP QUIZZES- that's right, pop quizzes in a lecture hall of 300.. In the end, the quizzes were not difficult, but she got everyone to panic by telling us we had 5 minutes to write a page and a half- not surprisingly, she got pretty crappy answers, so she allowed us to re-do it. This is just one of many examples that illustrates the unpleasant nature of this class- the material isn't difficult, but it is presented in a way that convinces you that you're stupid and incompetent.

Also, the prof. seems soft-spoken and nice at first, but she can be really rude. This was especially evident during the review sessions. For instance, I asked a question, and she told me, "That's common sense." Another student asked where the subtropics are, and she said "You should know that, and if you don't, Google it." How hard is it to say "around 30 degrees" and be done with it? Yet another student asked, "How should we study?" (pretty standard question for a review), and she snapped, "You should've been studying this whole quarter." Overall, I really dreaded every class, every lab (the horrible 2-hour labs, lab quiz every week, and a lab final..at least the pre-readings were helpful and my TA was nice), and the exams. The midterm was relatively easy, but the final—MC, short answers, and long answers— took me over 3 hours and that was with 2 double-sided cheat sheets, because the questions were so random and frustrating. What ticked me off the most was all she did was talk about the "big picture" during her lectures and then she hits you with the most trivial, detailed questions in the world on the final.

My advice:
(1) Don't take this class if you can avoid it- I've taken 3 other GREAT science GEs, so they are out there, and you don't have to settle for Oceanography.
(2) If you get stuck in this class last minute (like I did), don't despair. It is possible to get an A. Go to lecture, always keep up on the slides, read the book (helped me a lot), and FORM A STUDY GROUP. I met two awesome people in my lab, and they really kept me on track with the material. Also, like someone else said, get to know the TAs. They're pretty rad and can answer your questions.

Awesome class! I learned a ton and never felt like it was too time-consuming. The Science Communication Project was really fun to make as well. Overall, a great class to take! I definitely recommend it!

Professor Tripati's Oceanography class was a piece of cake. I came in thinking I wasn't going to like the class (I'm a ling major) but she actually did a really good job of making it enjoyable as well as easy. There are some readings and labs and then the online quizzes and that's really all there is aside formt he midterm and final. Both exams are also made extremely by the fact that you are allowed to make a 2 page cheat sheet as well as by the fact that you actually get to work in a group on the tests. I mean honestly it really couldn't be any easier.

Worst professor i have ever met in UCLA. Why she made such an easy class so boring and hard?? I spent much more time on this course than I have expected. So definitely avoid her!