I think Professor Okin is a very fair Professor given it's UCLA. He is extremely knowledgable and is very apparent (in a good way). However, the class is not easy! The concepts for the 1st 1/2 of the class can be hard which talk about The earth's origin (big bang), The earth in space and structure, plate tectonics, earthquakes, then where it gets challenging is when he talks about Atmosphere, Climate and weather. He talks about the physical and chemical processes going on here so he does go in depth talking about the chemistry behind it but doesn't expect you to remember the very small details. He is more interesting in the bigger concept but there is ALOT of concept to remember.

The class is 40% labs (Easy, if you put effort you should get 90%+), then 30% midterm and 30% Final both of which are Multiple Choice. Make no mistake, his tests are Multiple Choice however they are hard! He likes asking questions like "All the following are true except" and put in answers that are either very similar or have one tiny detail that makes the others false and one true.
Although the 1st 1/2 of the class is harder concept and the 2nd 1/2 I felt was definitely easier to understand, The test for the final (At least I felt) was definitely harder than expected and for me harder than the midterm. BTW average for the midterm was 68% but he makes it so that the 68% is the new 75% and accordingly shifts everyones scores up. Like I said, very fair professor but not easy since tests are hard.

Key to success is do the Study guides and watch all the podcasts while doing the Study Guide AND put effort into the labs because they are graded and they are what hold your grade up. No need to even buy the book, I forgot I had it by week 4 and I got a B+ in the class.

I learned valuable information in this class because it teaches you about the processes in earth which is where we live. Now I know why it rains at different latitudes, why certain parts have different climates, why rivers meander, why we have mountains, how clouds form, how earth was formed and much much more and all in-depth. However, this class will require a lot time if you want a good grade especially for those study guides which have about 80-110 questions and each questions has between 2-5 questions and most are like "Explain why it doesn't rain at 30degrees latitude form the equator" which generates long answers. So if you don't have the time, don't take it but if you do and want to learn about the processes in our world then I highly recommend it.

Only con about professor Okin is that sometimes it's hard to hear what he says because his voice can be very very low at times so you do miss things and when listening to the podcast you can go from barely able to hear him to all of a sudden, his voice just skyrocketing up (I think this is a technical issue with the recording) which is not pleasant or good for the ears.

I didn't know why i stick with this GE. I wasn't engage in the material. Professor Okins is an Ok professor. Sometimes you might feel sleepy in his class because he talks monotone and sometime very low that you can barely hear him. He does use a mic though. The labs are very elementary and easy . They are like writing definitions for the terms. but yea . Selling the textbook . text me at **********

I liked Okin and I got an A- without even reading the book (which by the way was kind of a waste of money). and if you talk to him outside of class, you'll understand why. He seems somewhat intimidating during lecture, but he's really interested in what he's teaching. I look forward to taking more classes with him.

I wouldn't recommend taking this class unless you have to or are interested in physical geography; I needed to take it for my major. I ended up with an A- in the class, even though I expected to get a B or B+ going into the final (based on what I got on the midterm). The class is 30% midterm, 30% final, and 40% lab. His tests are all multiple choice, but the questions are not basic and not always straight forward. I wasn't a huge fan of the labs; a lot of them felt like busy work and kind of elementary, though some of them were helpful. I attended every single lecture, read 95% of the readings, and did well on all of the labs. He does podcast all of his lectures, though I never listened to any of them. He seems to expect you to watch all of the podcasts in addition to coming to lecture, which was frustrating considering I attended every lecture and took notes. Point is - it's not impossible to do well in his class by any means, but you have to understand on Day 1 that the class will require more than just showing up and taking the tests.

While I didn't connect to Professor Okin's way of teaching, he is very knowledgable and a clear lecturer. He makes a point to go over key topics more than once and he provides multiple resources to his students.

不推荐，比较难，同类中有简单很多的课，底下的评论都是外国人写的，外国人学这种课都很认真

Geog1 is a really difficult class as a GE science requirement. Just working on study guide you will get good grades, however, sometimes you even cannot get the answer of the questions of the study guide. TA does not know too. If you want to get a A, your lab score must above 95 I think. And A is super difficult if you are not interested in GEOG.

The best word that I can think of to describe Professor Okin is fair. He's a very good lecturer--it's easy to understand him, he conveys information well, and he does a good job of putting the right amount of information on the powerpoint slides. His lectures are straightforward, and there's no tricks in either the material or the exams. As long as you know the material, you will do well--it's simple memorization. That said, there is A LOT of information given to you in ten weeks, and I wouldn't call this class an easy A--there are quite a few questions that appear on the exams that are tricky in the sense that they cover details that are easily forgotten. I personally thought the midterm was easier than the final, but I also put in more time studying for the midterm. They're both well curved--I think an 80% on the midterm ended up as a 93%, or something similar. He gives very extensive study guides for each exam--thoroughly answer each question, listen to each podcast over again (he puts them all online--use this resource!!), and you'll do well.

Very brilliant professor and very good professor for first years. Studying for tests start on Day 1. The key to doing well on exams is engaging yourself in lectures and connecting the concepts together rather than remembering random facts. Not an easy A, but a very informative class nonetheless.

I thought Okin was a great professor. He explains everything well and his study guides correspond perfectly with his lectures, so he sticks to the course material and doesn't digress as much as other professors do. Unlike common stereotypes about college professors, he actually does care about teaching this lower division course and makes sure to post course material online and have office hours. In each lecture he always periodically asks if the students have any questions. I don't find him to be cocky or condescending. On the contrary he's an overall nice guy who is passionate about what he teaches. I'd definitely recommend that you take his class.

Okin is a painfully boring lecturer. His tests are multiple choice but they can be kind of difficult if you don't study intensely for them. Be careful that on the midterm and final he will focus on topics that he didn't stress that were going to be on there. Luckily, the labs are super easy so that helps boost your grade. I got a B+ in the class, but probably could have done better if I'd tried harder or ever gone to lecture. Overall, it's a decent class but there are definitely better classes to take for easy G.E.s.