Professor Jewitt is a great professor- he's super nice, funny, and knowledgeable about the topic, and he makes the lecture and subject very interesting. That being said, I stopped going to lectures about halfway through the quarter (just because I was lazy and didn't want to walk to campus), and he posts the slides he uses for his lectures and they contain all the information. Grading wise, it's based on participation and quizzes given in discussions section, which are fairly easy (and your two lowest scores will be dropped) There's also a midterm that's actually pretty hard, but I managed a 26/29 on it. The final exam is worth the most, and from previous quarters it seems like he basically gave all the questions for the final beforehand, but for this quarter the final was cancelled due to the corona virus. He also offers like 20% extra credit to yoUR FINAL GRADE for doing stuff like watching movies and going to different science places around Los Angeles, so if you want an A in the class, you should be able to if you put in the effort. All in all, this a great and easy GE to take that I highly recommend

My review of this class is going to be a little skewed because the final was cancelled because of coronavirus so if you are taking this after this whole thing has blown over, my experience might be a tad different. But overall, the class itself was good; he posts the slides so you don't have to technically go to lecture. But Professor Jewitt is really funny and endearing so I showed up most days, just because I felt bad missing out on lectures taught by someone so amazing in his field of work.
Midterm: The midterm was super hard. I got a 55, my first failing grade at UCLA. I studied so much, but I studied the concepts and facts, rather than obscure equations. The midterm tested for very small details and had way more math on it than expected. I got up in less than 30 minutes and just handed it in lol. The average was a D, so don't feel too bad about it. BUT, even though I failed the midterm, I still ended the class with an A. I don't even know how I did that tbh.
Extra Credit: He offers like over 20% extra credit and I am telling you right now: DO ALL OF IT. He assigns the extra credit early in the class and you may feel like your grade is alright, but do it anyways because the midterm will most likely kill that and you don't want to be scrambling to do the extra credit.
Labs: You have to go to labs for participation. Each lab is worth 6 points - 1 point for showing up and the other points are from the lab and lab quiz. You get to drop your lowest two lab grades too.
Final: He cancelled the final for us so I never took it, but from past reviews people said he gave a study guide that was basically the whole test :)
Homework: There's no homework. At least for my TA, she checked the labs for completion and then posted the answers later so you really don't have to try on them.

I took this class as a GE and it honestly was pretty easy. I, like most people, completely bombed the midterm, but I still managed to get an A. The final was canceled because of the coronavirus, which ended up helping me out. I did all the extra credit that was offered, because after the midterm, I knew I was doomed if I didn’t do them. The fact that he offered around 20% OF EXTRA CREDIT is unbelievable, because I doubt that’s offered in any other class. DO THE EXTRA CREDIT! Also, go to discussion! I only missed one discussion, because the lowest two are dropped. Studying for the discussion quizzes is easy and I usually studied on the way to class. I also stopped showing up to lecture after week 2, and then occasionally only went on Thursdays from weeks 7-10 since I was ready on campus. From the lectures I did attend, I saw that Professor Jewitt was a smart man with a sarcastic way of teaching, which I liked because it made the class more interesting.

So I got an A+ in this class, thanks to all of the extra credit.
Even though I tried, I didn't feel like I learned a lot. The class wasn't super clear and discussion did not relate to class at all, which was frustrating, but I can't complain. The discussion quizzes were really easy and came straight from the worksheets. I found the midterm to be pretty difficult even though I studied, but the average was low so it balanced out. Dr. Jewitt was really great and cared a lot about our learning. I thought he was wonderful.
It's not a super structured class, but as long as you stay on top of discussion quizzes and the extra credit you'll be fine.
If you really care to learn about the Solar System, you'll have the opportunity to; if you don't care to learn about the Solar System, you'll find out just how interesting the subject is and it won't be too overwhelming.

For EPS SCI 9 with Professor Jewitt, I generally enjoyed the class. The lectures were engaging and interesting, with a small twist of humor that garnered a small chuckle from the class. He was thorough in explaining the topics at hand, but sometimes the topic did seem to drift from the core of the class. For example, we spent quite a large amount of time on Earth's geology (i.e. plate tectonics, atmosphere) relative to the other topics of the course. While I'm sure this is important, it threw me for a loop. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed these topics.

With regards to grading, this quarter was a particular circumstance because of the cancellation of in-person finals due to the coronavirus. So, Professor Jewitt canceled the final and accordingly scaled the midterm and labs. While it is true that the midterm would have been harder than the final (he was going to provide us with questions on the final), I cannot complain about grading because he provided up to 20% extra credit, which is extremely generous. All in all, though this class was a bit different from what I anticipated, it was still extremely interesting and low stress.

TL;DR: Professor Jewitt is a professor who is passionate about the topics which he teaches, passing this enthusiasm onto students while at the same time providing sufficient extra credit to help students focus on learning, not grades.

Before I start, TAKE THIS COURSE, THE COMMENT ABOVE IS OBJECTIVELY WRONG. This class was fucking amazing. One midterm and one final. During discussions, you get quizzes every week based on the discussion of the week before; they should be called worksheets instead of quizzes lol they were super easy. Discussion quizzes and attendance is 30%, Midterm is 20%, and the final is 50%. An additional 20% of extra credit is offered throughout the quarter. THIS IS HOW MUCH THE MIDTERM IS WORTH! The extra credits aren't free points- you will actually have to put in work to do stuff like going to the Griffith Observatory, California Science Center, keeping track of moon phases, etc. but honestly it all wasn't that bad and actually enjoyable to do. The midterm was not super easy but not hard either-if you study lecture notes and discussion material beforehand, you should be fine. The final however, I never took because it was canceled due to Corona; our grades were based on discussions, EC, and the midterm. We were still given a list of questions acting as a SG for the final and most of these were going to be on the final anyways so I doubt it would've been bad. Professor David Jewitt, where do I even start. This man is a fucking legend. He, along with one of his research partners, discovered an object deep in our solar system that helped drive the decision that Pluto isn't a planet. He really knows what he is talking about and he enjoys talking about it so much, it is amazing. His lectures are some of the most engaging I have ever been in and i often lost track of time because of how engaged I was. He would show videos and pictures to really help students understand the content better which was super helpful. DO NOT SKIP LECTURE, they are actually enjoyable to go to. He also has a very comedic personality and will often satirize everything about anything which was hilarious. I remember one of the lectures being about all the different ways humans can destroy all life as we know it and that was the best lecture I have ever been to in my life. Funny, informative, engaging, etc. . Jewitt also ended class 15-20 min early almost every lecture, so you're in there for an hour max most of the time. Definitely a fantastic class and if i see Jewitts name on another course, I will not hesitate to enroll in it as soon as possible!

I got an A+ in this class and did barely any work. I studied for the midterm for a decent amount of time and got 80% on it, but all the stuff I studied didn't even show up on the exam. A background in physics gives you a significant advantage in the midterm- not even like the physics series or AP Physics; if you took regular physics in high school you have a leg up. I can't speak on the final because we didn't take one, but I did the study guide before the whole online classes thing began and it was pretty straight forward, even though he only gave us 20 questions. Just do the extra credit, show up to the labs, and study before the midterm and final and you should be pretty set for an A- at the minimum. I really didn't show up to a lot of the lectures, but I recommend that you go. You can skip here and there but I don't recommend skipping weeks 7-9 like I did lol.

This class is a very manageable GE. You don't really have any homework and don't need to read/get a textbook. Outside of class, you practically have 0 work except going thru the slides before the ONE midterm and the extra credit (total probably took me like... 7 hours? And I studied for the midterm way longer than most people). Do the extra credit, especially the ones worth a lot of percentage. To be honest, you might not even really have to go to lecture...? Just do it though, because he is very funny and brings up a LOT of interesting information. I did only a bit above average on the midterm but got an A+ in the class (raw score was like a C+; avg was D+) so don't freak out, it's multiple choice and it's very unlikely you're going to get an A raw score. Jewitt is a leader in his field and knows the topic very well and its interesting (c'mon, it's space). Don't worry if you miss one or two lectures, he posts slides. However, I DID go to every lecture and he DOES bring up a lot of information outside of the slides so maybe they're still fair game (weren't in our midterm though). Take it with Jewitt if you can! It is an easy A and he doesn't want you to stress about your grade so he offers extra credit.

Amazing professor and a fun class. The one homework assignment is fun and easy, tests are easy as well. I got a B+ (92.994%, where 93 was an A-), but that's only because I forgot to turn in the homework and declined to do several of the many, many extra credit opportunities he gave the class. If you are willing to put in even a medium amount of effort it's quite easy to end up with over 100% in the class.

I highly recommend Jewitt and EPSS 9.

I LOVE DAVE! take him, I'm a north campus major but I love space and this class delivers a well-rounded education of the solar system, while giving enough extra credit to get you an A in the class.