Expecting an easy A going in because it was a simple GE. The tests used Respondus LockDown Browser and the material on the test was not stressed in lecture. The study guides did not cover a lot of the stuff on the test and the questions felt kind of random based on what we had gone over in lecture. Other than that pretty easy. Tests are multiple choice, one midterm, one final. Labs are very easy and TAs are super helpful. She added a bunch of quizzes every week or so because people were unhappy with their midterm grades.

This is an easy GE. Not a super easy GE, but easy. Okay, you need to study. It’s not such a breeze that you can skip lecture and still get an A. I went to (online) lectures, took notes, and studied for a few days before the midterm and final. I got a 95 on midterm and 96 on final, which were both all multiple choice and pretty straight-forward. There is no textbook reading and very little homework. I’m pretty good at memorization so got an A+, but I really think it shouldn’t be that hard to get an A/A- even if memorization isn’t your strong suit.

I think many of the complaints in other recent reviews come from a discrepancy between expectations for this class and the reality. People expected tests would be open note so didn’t spend much time on this class and then we’re upset when exams were closed note. Realistically, the expectation should never be that a UCLA class will be open note. You need to study a little to get an A. If you’re looking for a science GE that requires literally no effort, this isn’t right.

I agree that the professor was passive-aggressive, but I also could see how some of the questions people asked (e.g. begging for exam to be open note) could be annoying. If you spend maybe 1 hour per week reviewing material from the class / taking the quizzes and then a few days prepping for exams, you can get an A. I wouldn’t let the super negative reviews scare you, but it’s important to be aware that this isn’t the easiest class at UCLA as described by covid reviews.

This was a great class, I would take it again in a heartbeat. Dr. Beghein is a great lecturer and a very interesting person. She is passionate and knows a lot about the subject, in fact she even works with NASA!

The workload was very reasonable for this class. Every week, we had a lab and a reading assignment due. They were both reasonable amounts of work.

She uses well-made slides in her lectures and her lectures are interesting and engaging.

There was one midterm and it was very fair.

She was very considerate with all the circumstances of the end of Spring quarter (BLM and COVID-19) and made the final exam optional and no-harm.

Overall, she is a great professor and I would happily take a class with her again.

This was definitely an easy class. The prof was so nice. Grades were made up of weekly assignments, labs, midterm, and final. The weekly assignments are a 2-3 sentence summary of a short video clip. I had Xu Haotian as my TA, and I was able to ask him for help on the lab through Slack and he was more than helpful. (You could ask is you answered a question right or wrong and he'll let you know). The midterm had questions from in-class polls, the study guide, and then a few random ones; watch out for the multiple select questions. The prof made the final optional for our quarter.

I would not say that this class was like the previous reviews before Winter 2022 stated, however, I did find that most if not all of the information she did provide through the lectures. The grading was split this way: 2% course evaluations, 3% additional assignments/quizzes, 30% midterm, 30% labs, and 35% final. The labs weren't too difficult, but I often found that attending office hours with my TA was the most beneficial and really allowed me to get full credit since I was able to ask questions. My midterm and final for this class lined up with another as they were on the same day which really sucked. The final time was never listed and we were made aware too late in the quarter for me to change anything so try not to have that be the case for you. The midterm was a little difficult, but I was able to get an A- so I'd say just study the slides and the study aids and you should be okay, but I mean really study them. The final was way easier in my opinion, I received a little higher than the midterm, but that was also because many questions from the assignments were included on it. Both tests are multiple choice (final is double the questions) with a large amount of time to take it, so you should be able to finish in less time than necessary. Being multiple choice, it also helped in figuring out which answer was correct, but you actually need to know at least the basics of the content which I didn't find too hard. Overall, this class was interesting but it was definitely more than I expected coming in. If you study for the tests and keep up with the lectures, you should be able to do well in the class. Don't be discouraged but also keep in mind that you may have to put a bit more work in (not excessive) to get the grade you desire. If I could do it with both significant tests on the same day as my other class and do well in both, I think you'll be fine (definitely stressful though).

I was definitely misguided by the bruin walk reviews. This class was much more difficult than I anticipated. Both the midterms and finals used Respondus but I’m assuming that will change in the future. The exams were fair as long as you put in the work to complete the study guide. I will say that there were some extremely specific questions that I don’t think many students thought would be there. However, making a thorough study guide and relying on that should get you pretty good grades on the exams. The labs had a quiz format but were due within a week of when they were assigned. The labs weren’t too bad and my TA usually explained things well enough to where I could answer all parts of the questions. That said, if you have any questions, I would recommend asking during lectures or during lab because it is sometimes difficult to get in touch with my TA/the professor over email. Overall, I would say this class is not an easy A and required a lot more work than I thought. If you have another science GE in mind, maybe prioritize that one. If this class is the only one available, you should be fine. I think it’s just a matter of communicating with the professor with anticipation. Good luck!

This class was not too difficult. I recommend this class if you need to take a class that has a lab. The weekly labs were so easy; nearly all took me less than 30 minutes. Since it was online, we had to watch about 8 videos weekly and write 1-2 sentences per video summarizing what we had watched. The videos were very helpful as they pertained to what will be taught that week and they were mostly cartoons. The midterm and final are worded very simply and are straight to the point. Honestly, you can kind of cancel out which ones look very wrong and find the answer easily like that. She recorded each lecture, enabling students to watch them if they do not attend lecture. As the name implies, this class is about Earthquakes. But you also learn about the layers of the Earth as well as about plate tectonics. The professor answers emails relatively quickly and is happy to assist in any questions you may ask. She accommodated students well during this COVID Pandemic as well as when protests against racial injustice and police brutality grew. This class gave me no homework on weekends, other than taking notes for the next lecture.

Literally could not recommend this class enough. Being someone who isn't the best at math or science, I was a little leery of this class to start, but it turned out to be really easy. Basically no homework, just two assignments a week that take five minutes max, as well as reading that never seemed to be tested on. The midterm and final are both easy, and the only other project is a two page write up about how earthquake safe your house is--took like two hours at most. The professor is the sweetest ever, and always super accommodating and understanding of everyone's personal situations. There is a lab once a week, but the entire discussion is just everyone working on the lab by themselves and asking the TA an occasional question. The subject material was really interesting and actually pretty intuitive, and I feel like I learned a lot and took a lot away from this class. Her powerpoints and presentations are extremely organized, and always posted in case you can't write/type fast enough during lectures. All in all, the best possible class to satisfy the GE requirement, you won't regret taking it!

I really liked the content of this course. If you took EPS SCI 1, the first half of this course is a breeze. There is a lot of information though, so you have to be ready to do a lot of memorization. Beghein is an alright professor, not the best, not the worst. Her lectures can be pretty convoluted, especially in the second half of the quarter, because she gives a lot of unnecessary information and sometimes overcomplicates things. But the material is really interesting and you learn a lot of valuable stuff about earthquakes and earth science. Labs were basically either busy work or really hard, so there is some variety, but if you have a good TA he will explain how to do the problems. If you know your stuff, the midterm and the final are pretty easy. But you do really actually need to study for them. Overall an interesting GE, not the easiest, not the hardest.

This is not an easy GE course!!!!!! I would say this is the hardest GE class I’ve taken at UCLA so far. I spent way more time than expected studying for the midterm and final, worst of all, the final was accumulative. The only good thing was I enrolled with a lot of my friends, so we were all able to study together. BUT we were all mislead by the comments from previous years and ended up extremely stressed before final. The midterm and final are all extremely hard, requires immense memorization, mass attention to all the lectures(which were all extremely boring). STAY AWAY FROM THIS COURSE IF YOU CAN.