James Gimzewski
Department of Honors Collegium
AD
4.0
Overall Rating
Based on 2 Users
Easiness 5.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.5 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 4.5 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.0 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Tolerates Tardiness
  • Appropriately Priced Materials
  • Often Funny
  • Participation Matters
  • Issues PTEs
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
96.2%
80.1%
64.1%
48.1%
32.1%
16.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

91.7%
76.4%
61.1%
45.8%
30.6%
15.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

84.2%
70.2%
56.1%
42.1%
28.1%
14.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

91.7%
76.4%
61.1%
45.8%
30.6%
15.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

100.0%
83.3%
66.7%
50.0%
33.3%
16.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

90.9%
75.8%
60.6%
45.5%
30.3%
15.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

76.5%
63.7%
51.0%
38.2%
25.5%
12.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

87.5%
72.9%
58.3%
43.8%
29.2%
14.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

AD

Reviews (2)

1 of 1
1 of 1
Add your review...
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A
March 25, 2020

This dude is a rad Chad meets eccentric, brilliant Scottish scientist. You'll understand if you take the class.
The topic is lovely - nanotechnology is relevant in many respects (medicine, energy/environment, food, economy, electronics) and Professor Gimzewski is more than willing to engage and try to make room for north campus students, although mechanistic details for many complex topics went over my head even as a physical sciences major.
But it's okay - you're not rigorously tested on the material. The way we engage in the 3-hour seminar is as follows: 2-hour "lectures" (more casual, with occasional discussion and questions), then 50 minutes to go through everyone's blogs. These blogs can be written on ANY topic broadly (or specifically, of course) relating to the lecture topic from the week prior. In essence, he encourages you to dive deeper into the topics that interest you on your own time, then share that knowledge with the class.
If it's not blogs, then it's presentations that encourage us to think creatively about using nanotechnology in the future. There's a midterm presentation as well as a final presentation, both about 3-4 minutes long, again completely on the topic of your choice. For the final presentation, we also expand upon the ideas in the presentation in a 10-15 page paper (12-15 page paper? The length requirement was inconsistent between the syllabus and the assignment page... I ended up doing 14 so it didn't matter for me). This is also a creative work, where every year he collects everyone's papers and puts it together into a book. We come up with a theme for the book together, but what tends to stay the same as that you'll write a first-person narrative describing a person's experience with nanotechnology as well as an explanation of the science behind the nanotechnology (with the opportunity to expand on social/ethical consequences if you like but this isn't required). The 2020 topic was "A Day in the Life" so we really followed a person as they went about their daily life from waking up to going to bed, and we set the date as 2050.
I had a great time with Prof. Gimzewski. He can mumble sometimes, and it isn't always easy to follow his train of thought. His train of thought also killed me sometimes, because one moment you'll see the true genius, and the next moment he'll be on to saying something completely irrelevant/random. But it was also absolutely hilarious, and he has a very good sense of humor, with good intentions. Definitely a professor who means well and attempts to be accommodating, and wants the best for everyone. Despite being a more flexible class, I still feel like a learned a massive amount and had fun.
In sum:
Blogs: 20%
Participation/Discussion: 20%
Midterm Presentation: 20% due week 5
Final: 40% (composed of 20% presentation due week 10, 20% paper due finals week)
*Note: he was nice about telling students to reach out to him for accommodations in light of the coronavirus. Also he became a lot more communicative around this time, which I think increased my respect for him adapting as a professor. He's definitely a busy man, and prior to this he was the type of professor that definitely acknowledged emails internally, but often did not reply. He would even note to us "oh I saw that some students sent in emails to me that they were sick!" yet a guy in my class saw me later and was like "omg idk what's going on bc he never replied back to me?" But yeah, in the last weeks, he has sent frequent updates, showing that he comes through when it matters! Cool guy. Rad Chad. Haha.

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 28, 2021

I think you get what you put into this class. It's super easy with weekly blogs about basically whatever in a general topic he assigns and a midterm and final presentation along with a final paper. I think as long as you put in some minimal effort you'll get an A. The professor is quite cool but this class, at least online, had students presenting their blogs for way more time then he actually taught the class which really detracted from this amazing professor teaching you as the other review noted. I literally just presented my blog every week and zoned out for the rest of the time and got an A from that.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A
March 25, 2020

This dude is a rad Chad meets eccentric, brilliant Scottish scientist. You'll understand if you take the class.
The topic is lovely - nanotechnology is relevant in many respects (medicine, energy/environment, food, economy, electronics) and Professor Gimzewski is more than willing to engage and try to make room for north campus students, although mechanistic details for many complex topics went over my head even as a physical sciences major.
But it's okay - you're not rigorously tested on the material. The way we engage in the 3-hour seminar is as follows: 2-hour "lectures" (more casual, with occasional discussion and questions), then 50 minutes to go through everyone's blogs. These blogs can be written on ANY topic broadly (or specifically, of course) relating to the lecture topic from the week prior. In essence, he encourages you to dive deeper into the topics that interest you on your own time, then share that knowledge with the class.
If it's not blogs, then it's presentations that encourage us to think creatively about using nanotechnology in the future. There's a midterm presentation as well as a final presentation, both about 3-4 minutes long, again completely on the topic of your choice. For the final presentation, we also expand upon the ideas in the presentation in a 10-15 page paper (12-15 page paper? The length requirement was inconsistent between the syllabus and the assignment page... I ended up doing 14 so it didn't matter for me). This is also a creative work, where every year he collects everyone's papers and puts it together into a book. We come up with a theme for the book together, but what tends to stay the same as that you'll write a first-person narrative describing a person's experience with nanotechnology as well as an explanation of the science behind the nanotechnology (with the opportunity to expand on social/ethical consequences if you like but this isn't required). The 2020 topic was "A Day in the Life" so we really followed a person as they went about their daily life from waking up to going to bed, and we set the date as 2050.
I had a great time with Prof. Gimzewski. He can mumble sometimes, and it isn't always easy to follow his train of thought. His train of thought also killed me sometimes, because one moment you'll see the true genius, and the next moment he'll be on to saying something completely irrelevant/random. But it was also absolutely hilarious, and he has a very good sense of humor, with good intentions. Definitely a professor who means well and attempts to be accommodating, and wants the best for everyone. Despite being a more flexible class, I still feel like a learned a massive amount and had fun.
In sum:
Blogs: 20%
Participation/Discussion: 20%
Midterm Presentation: 20% due week 5
Final: 40% (composed of 20% presentation due week 10, 20% paper due finals week)
*Note: he was nice about telling students to reach out to him for accommodations in light of the coronavirus. Also he became a lot more communicative around this time, which I think increased my respect for him adapting as a professor. He's definitely a busy man, and prior to this he was the type of professor that definitely acknowledged emails internally, but often did not reply. He would even note to us "oh I saw that some students sent in emails to me that they were sick!" yet a guy in my class saw me later and was like "omg idk what's going on bc he never replied back to me?" But yeah, in the last weeks, he has sent frequent updates, showing that he comes through when it matters! Cool guy. Rad Chad. Haha.

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Winter 2021
Grade: A
March 28, 2021

I think you get what you put into this class. It's super easy with weekly blogs about basically whatever in a general topic he assigns and a midterm and final presentation along with a final paper. I think as long as you put in some minimal effort you'll get an A. The professor is quite cool but this class, at least online, had students presenting their blogs for way more time then he actually taught the class which really detracted from this amazing professor teaching you as the other review noted. I literally just presented my blog every week and zoned out for the rest of the time and got an A from that.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 1
4.0
Overall Rating
Based on 2 Users
Easiness 5.0 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.5 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 4.5 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.0 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (2)
  • Tolerates Tardiness
    (1)
  • Appropriately Priced Materials
    (1)
  • Often Funny
    (2)
  • Participation Matters
    (1)
  • Issues PTEs
    (1)
ADS

Adblock Detected

Bruinwalk is an entirely Daily Bruin-run service brought to you for free. We hate annoying ads just as much as you do, but they help keep our lights on. We promise to keep our ads as relevant for you as possible, so please consider disabling your ad-blocking software while using this site.

Thank you for supporting us!