DO NOT TAKE THIS GE. He changed the format, and the final exam is 45% of your final grade. This class is extremely boring and unengaging. The average for the final was an 84, the mean was an 82, and he graded pretty harshly, honestly. Not worth your time; take something that is actually interesting.

Note that the final exam has changed from previous reviews that have been mentioned here and it is 45 percent of our grade. Although it used to be a take-home essay final, it was changed to multiple choice, short answer, and essays in-person. The professor was asked in class whether content would be from the lecture slides and said that if the content was taken from the lecture slides the exam would be less than an hour. Instead, we were instructed to conduct personal research and compile notes that could be used on this exam so that the professor could test content about our selected mars topic that was never actually covered in class.

We were instructed to use chat gpt to help us "study" and there were no guidelines given as to what would be tested within the broad topic we had selected. The median for the final was low 80s and the lower quartile was in the 70s. There are more engaging and less stressful science GEs to take at UCLA, especially given the recent changes.

Professor Paige is such a nice, fair professor. He is super understanding of the fact that this is a GE course for non-majors. His lectures have lots of content but he explains it well. There is a 4-6 question Canvas quiz every lecture; he usually drops 3-4 quizzes and 1 lab. Discussion section is a short presentation by the TA and then free time to work on the lab for the week. There is no midterm—for the final Professor Paige allows students to choose 1 topic from a list of around 7 to 8 different topics relating to the course, complete their own research on the topic, and compile printed notes which can be referenced during the final exam (multiple choice, short answer, 2 essays). Overall, Professor Paige is the sweetest and this is a super manageable physical science GE.

Extremely easy GE. Very cool topic and professor Paige is extremely overqualified. No tests just in-class quizzes (very easy), labs (also no problem), and a final paper worth 45% of your grade ( takes a while because it's four pages single spaced but if you follow directions and the format you will get a 100%). I will say that Dr. Paige is not the most engaging lecturer but if you find the topic interesting enough you can zone out and listen for your own enjoyment (I took 0 notes throughout the class since you don't have to study for the test). For the paper I'd recommend being prompt about picking your topic, it's on first come first serve basis, and pick something that you can write a lot about since it is a lengthy paper (probably would advise against writing about Mars in video games or Mars in pop songs, even though these are valid topics that he lets you pick).

If you need a science GE for physical science, definitely take this class!
I loved Dr. Paige. He was very passionate and knowledgeable about what he was talking about and overall he seemed to be a very sweet and understanding professor. This class has no exams just in-class quizzes (extremely simple and straightforward if you attend and listen to his lecture), labs (also very doable), a movie assignment and a paper. This is not one of those classes that is overwhelming because of the difficulty of the content or the intensely memory-based exams. I was able to enjoy the materials, especially Dr.Paige being an enthusiastic and funny person, and never felt forced to learn any of the content by heart. He is a great professor and it has been an absolute pleasure to take his course. I have personally never been interested in astronomy and at first, I was worried that this course would hurt my GPA (I am a humanities major, barely any experience in studying physics or chemistry) but it ended up being very interesting and fun to take.

The sweetest prof. He had Covid and zoomed in from bed for every lecture that he was down for. There are quizzes in every lecture (20%), each with about 4 questions on the lecture's topic. You can ask him questions, collaborate with other students on them, and he posts slides before lectures, so you can just look through the slides for answers. You are able to drop the three lowest quiz scores, but that didn't make much of a difference for me because I had to just drop the quizzes that I couldn't make it to class for. Everyone goes to class for the quizzes only and then leaves 20 minutes in, once they submit them. Please don't do this because the prof's face watching everyone walk out every day was heartbreaking, he looked so sad every time :( There are also weekly lab assignments (25%), which are super easy, and lab attendance is not required. There is no midterm or final exam, only an activity on "The Martian" movie (10%) and a final paper (45%) that is four pages, single-spaced (optional: up to one page of illustrations). The paper is different for every person, as we were given a list of about 150 Mars-related topics and we each had to reserve one. Offers 1% extra credit for taking a picture of Mars in the sky on a certain night. Overall, super easy GE and I loved not having exams.

Super easy science GE! The final two assignments (term paper - 45% and Martian activity) were extremely easy and seemed to be graded on effort/completion. You do have to attend every class to take quizzes worth a decent portion of your grade, but the three lowest quizzes are dropped. Don't let this professor's ratings scare you! He is genuinely so sweet and if you need a science GE this is the one to take

If you need a science GE, definitely take this course. It was incredibly easy and had no exams. There was a lecture quiz through Gradescope during every lecture, but they were usually multiple choice and consisted of only 5 questions. There were also weekly labs, but they were also very straightforward and easy. The lowest quiz and lab are also dropped. There is a final paper in place of the no exams, but it was relatively simple and was basically graded on just completion and correctness. You don't have to buy the required book; I never opened it once. Professor Paige is super chill and knowledgable, and I recommend this course for anyone looking for an easy and fun GE credit.

Super easy GE course. Most of the grade is a final term paper w/ a topic you choose from a list (some of them aren't even scientific/technical). Other than that it's mainly labs (which are super easy) and lecture quizzes. The lecture quizzes make it so you have to attend most lectures, but honestly a lot of people were able to figure out the answers online. I still went to lecture because it was really interesting! The material is pretty diverse, and is generally easy to grasp. Prof. Paige is also super knowledgeable (he's even part of the science team for one of the instruments on the Perseverance rover) and is just a super sweet and excited guy. Don't buy the textbook! Have fun!

The final paper is worth 40% of the grade. 4-page single-spaced so it's basically 8-page double-spaces. If you find good sources and select a topic that really interests you, you'll pull it off. Ask the professor for sources that he recommends!

There are quizzes for every lecture so people seldom miss lectures. But most of the answers are in the slides and you can always discuss with neighbors or even with the professor so it's not hard to get almost-full credits.

The labs involve very basic math (in 1 or 2 labs) and planetary observation. You can always google or ask the TA how to do them.

A film assignment accounts for 25% of the grade. Going over certain scenes again and again took me 4 hours but I got most of the credits as well, so it shouldn't be hard if you really spent some time working on the assignment.