Professor

Karen Givvin

AD
4.8
Overall Ratings
Based on 44 Users
Easiness 3.9 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 3.8 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.8 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.9 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (44)

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PSYCH 133F
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 19, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A

Professor Givvin is such a gem. This class turned out to be one of the most interesting classes I've taken so far at UCLA. Each day in class, you review 1-2 articles of studies or literature reviews about educational topics. Some of the ones I remember off the top of my head are if professors providing powerpoints affects students' exam performance and how gender stereotypes affect working memory capacity. Professor Givvin makes each study manageable to understand and makes sure everyone's questions are answered. Her dog Jake is super cute too.

Class is 15% participation, 25% each for two midterms, and 35% final. Her tests made sure you understood the studies she went over, but there were no trick questions and she was always willing to clarify question during exams if you were confused. If you take this class, you will definitely take away lots of valuable information! It's (by far) been my favorite psych class.

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Nov. 4, 2019
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A+

Professor Givvin is easily one of my favorite professors at UCLA. She is an incredible person: funny, engaging, down-to-earth, and just GETS students. Her knowledge of educational psychology shows: she understands how to structure a class effectively to maximize learning while still making it fun, approachable, and interesting. She is just amazing! I will take any and every class she offers. She does not post lecture slides, which forces engagement with the materials in lecture and means that you cannot slack off. Clicker quizzes happen every class, which forces you to keep up with the material, which makes studying for the exams a piece of cake because you have been doing the work all along! Readings are research articles on different topics in educational psychology, which I always find way more interesting and engaging than a textbook. This also means that all the materials are free (besides the clicker). I wish UCLA would offer more education and psychology courses because I think they are just fascinating and so applicable to us as students. Bottom line, Professor Givvin is a wonderful person and I am so glad that people like her get to to teach at UCLA.

Helpful?

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Dec. 27, 2017
Quarter: Fall 2017
Grade: A+

As someone who took this class for the grade distribution (and not out of interest), I actually found this class pretty interesting. The topics are all relevant and presented in an interesting way. Givvin is funny and has a very upbeat attitude. I would definitely recommend this class.

Grading Breakdown:
40% Midterm (Multiple-choice only)
45% Final (Multiple Choice + Short Answer)
15% Clicker Questions (3 points per class, lowest 2 scores dropped)

Exam Tips:
- She's not big on small details at all. It is mainly overarching questions and conclusions.
- She rarely focuses on method questions. However, know the articles that are only "literature reviews," as opposed to experiments.
- For the final, most of the short answer questions focus on the benefits of the article's topic. A question would be: name 3 benefits of x...
- You don't need to know the names of the authors, but it helps.
- We did not have one definition question all quarter. Again, it's just mainly themes and conclusions.
- Once or twice an exam, you'll get a question that lists words that come straight off the slides. They are easy to identify if you have read the slides enough.

With a little bit of studying (i.e. reading the slides a few times before each exam), you can easily attain an A/A+.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 25, 2022
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: A+

I cannot put into words how much I LOVED this class. Professor Givvin is absolutely one of my favorite professors at UCLA so far. I took this class while lectures were in person and exams were ONLINE, so your future experience may be different.

We were assigned readings to do before each lecture, and during lecture we did clicker questions (participation points) and Professor Givvin prepared slides that basically gave a very thorough run-down of the readings. She DID NOT post the slides on Canvas, but I didn't mind this too much, as I took notes on my laptop. (She also had a reading assigned on posting slides for classes, which I found to be very amusing and an interesting read.)

Personally, I was terrified that I would fail the exams because I couldn't do some readings in time, but this was NOT the case. Professor Givvin's lecture slides covered everything you needed to know on the exams (which were a blend of MC and short answers). Our TA, Fran, also had office hours held as a review session, and they ALSO prepared slides as review. These review slides were a LIFE SAVER for the exams.

She is absolutely the kindest, sweetest, and most caring professor ever, and it's so obvious how a professor of education can really change the environment of a class. TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
June 22, 2022
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: A

Professor Givvin is really sweet. You can tell she really cares about what she does and for her students. The only homework you have is readings, and these should be done before coming to class. She goes over the readings so much more in depth during class and it's super helpful. However, keep in mind that because you don't have any homework tests are weighed a lot more heavily. There are 2 midterms and one final. There were some questions on the exams that were a little tricky, but as long as you study the readings and have a basic understanding of each one of them, you should be fine. She has two grading schemes, one which includes a participation grade through Clickers and one that doesn't. She'll calculate the higher of the two at the end of the quarter automatically. Overall, I thought this was a super interesting class and that I learned a lot. I'd recommend it!!

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May 26, 2022
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: I

Dr. Givvin is a very thoughtful and helpful professor and is incredibly knowledgable. Readings should be completed before every class but it does seem to be the case that many students do not read beforehand. Although she does cover the papers in depth in class, I would recommend that students do the readings for themselves to get the most out of her class. Overall, the workload is very reasonable and it is clear that she wants her students to succeed. One of the best classes I have taken at U.C.L.A. so far!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Nov. 19, 2013
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

I took Psych 133 F with professor Givvin and she is very nice professor. You will see what I mean during quizzes. The articles are not too hard to read and if you pay attention to mostly the lecture you should be fine. I mostly skimmed the discussion section of each article before class and reviewed the power points. I got an A- but if I worked a little harder I could have gotten an A. If you can I highly suggest you take this class before it fills up. Its easy and you learn a lot.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
March 24, 2014
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Real Course: Psych 133F

DON'T LOSE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!!!! She is amazing, to say the least. As a lecturer she is very organized, clear and passionate about what she teaches. Not to mention, she is VERY attentive to student's concerns. The tests are simple because there are no curve balls. The only trick is that this class focuses on analyzing psychology and education articles and you get tested on the articles at the beginning of class. However, after the quiz (which is simple) she explains the articles in dept and encourages student discussion, experience and questions. YOU HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHAT A GREAT PROFESSOR IS UNTIL YOU HAVE TAKEN PROFESSOR GIVVIN! (Please don't miss out)

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 14, 2013
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

This professor really cares about her students learning and doing well in her class. She gives a lot of power to the students and gives them time to interpret what she said and ask questions for clarification. One of the nicest professors here, take her :) Her class is based on reading scientific articles. You do learn a lot :D

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
April 15, 2013
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A

Givvin has to be one of my favorite Psych professors. She cares about her students, and the studies you learn about are actually very interesting! Most of them you can even apply to your daily life. I thought this course was very inspiring and I learned a lot. If you want an A, I wouldn't say you have to work too hard for it. Her questions on the midterm and exam come directly out of lectures, and she NEVER asks tricky questions; they are all straight to the point. That being said, she does give you a quiz via the iclicker at the beginning of each class. However, if you just skim the readings or simply read the title & abstract, you will most likely be able to answer all of the quiz questions which are again not meant to trick you. She also drops your two lowest quiz scores. I highly recommend her!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
Dec. 19, 2020

Professor Givvin is such a gem. This class turned out to be one of the most interesting classes I've taken so far at UCLA. Each day in class, you review 1-2 articles of studies or literature reviews about educational topics. Some of the ones I remember off the top of my head are if professors providing powerpoints affects students' exam performance and how gender stereotypes affect working memory capacity. Professor Givvin makes each study manageable to understand and makes sure everyone's questions are answered. Her dog Jake is super cute too.

Class is 15% participation, 25% each for two midterms, and 35% final. Her tests made sure you understood the studies she went over, but there were no trick questions and she was always willing to clarify question during exams if you were confused. If you take this class, you will definitely take away lots of valuable information! It's (by far) been my favorite psych class.

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: A+
Nov. 4, 2019

Professor Givvin is easily one of my favorite professors at UCLA. She is an incredible person: funny, engaging, down-to-earth, and just GETS students. Her knowledge of educational psychology shows: she understands how to structure a class effectively to maximize learning while still making it fun, approachable, and interesting. She is just amazing! I will take any and every class she offers. She does not post lecture slides, which forces engagement with the materials in lecture and means that you cannot slack off. Clicker quizzes happen every class, which forces you to keep up with the material, which makes studying for the exams a piece of cake because you have been doing the work all along! Readings are research articles on different topics in educational psychology, which I always find way more interesting and engaging than a textbook. This also means that all the materials are free (besides the clicker). I wish UCLA would offer more education and psychology courses because I think they are just fascinating and so applicable to us as students. Bottom line, Professor Givvin is a wonderful person and I am so glad that people like her get to to teach at UCLA.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: Fall 2017
Grade: A+
Dec. 27, 2017

As someone who took this class for the grade distribution (and not out of interest), I actually found this class pretty interesting. The topics are all relevant and presented in an interesting way. Givvin is funny and has a very upbeat attitude. I would definitely recommend this class.

Grading Breakdown:
40% Midterm (Multiple-choice only)
45% Final (Multiple Choice + Short Answer)
15% Clicker Questions (3 points per class, lowest 2 scores dropped)

Exam Tips:
- She's not big on small details at all. It is mainly overarching questions and conclusions.
- She rarely focuses on method questions. However, know the articles that are only "literature reviews," as opposed to experiments.
- For the final, most of the short answer questions focus on the benefits of the article's topic. A question would be: name 3 benefits of x...
- You don't need to know the names of the authors, but it helps.
- We did not have one definition question all quarter. Again, it's just mainly themes and conclusions.
- Once or twice an exam, you'll get a question that lists words that come straight off the slides. They are easy to identify if you have read the slides enough.

With a little bit of studying (i.e. reading the slides a few times before each exam), you can easily attain an A/A+.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: A+
June 25, 2022

I cannot put into words how much I LOVED this class. Professor Givvin is absolutely one of my favorite professors at UCLA so far. I took this class while lectures were in person and exams were ONLINE, so your future experience may be different.

We were assigned readings to do before each lecture, and during lecture we did clicker questions (participation points) and Professor Givvin prepared slides that basically gave a very thorough run-down of the readings. She DID NOT post the slides on Canvas, but I didn't mind this too much, as I took notes on my laptop. (She also had a reading assigned on posting slides for classes, which I found to be very amusing and an interesting read.)

Personally, I was terrified that I would fail the exams because I couldn't do some readings in time, but this was NOT the case. Professor Givvin's lecture slides covered everything you needed to know on the exams (which were a blend of MC and short answers). Our TA, Fran, also had office hours held as a review session, and they ALSO prepared slides as review. These review slides were a LIFE SAVER for the exams.

She is absolutely the kindest, sweetest, and most caring professor ever, and it's so obvious how a professor of education can really change the environment of a class. TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: A
June 22, 2022

Professor Givvin is really sweet. You can tell she really cares about what she does and for her students. The only homework you have is readings, and these should be done before coming to class. She goes over the readings so much more in depth during class and it's super helpful. However, keep in mind that because you don't have any homework tests are weighed a lot more heavily. There are 2 midterms and one final. There were some questions on the exams that were a little tricky, but as long as you study the readings and have a basic understanding of each one of them, you should be fine. She has two grading schemes, one which includes a participation grade through Clickers and one that doesn't. She'll calculate the higher of the two at the end of the quarter automatically. Overall, I thought this was a super interesting class and that I learned a lot. I'd recommend it!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: Spring 2022
Grade: I
May 26, 2022

Dr. Givvin is a very thoughtful and helpful professor and is incredibly knowledgable. Readings should be completed before every class but it does seem to be the case that many students do not read beforehand. Although she does cover the papers in depth in class, I would recommend that students do the readings for themselves to get the most out of her class. Overall, the workload is very reasonable and it is clear that she wants her students to succeed. One of the best classes I have taken at U.C.L.A. so far!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 134F
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Nov. 19, 2013

I took Psych 133 F with professor Givvin and she is very nice professor. You will see what I mean during quizzes. The articles are not too hard to read and if you pay attention to mostly the lecture you should be fine. I mostly skimmed the discussion section of each article before class and reviewed the power points. I got an A- but if I worked a little harder I could have gotten an A. If you can I highly suggest you take this class before it fills up. Its easy and you learn a lot.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 134F
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 24, 2014

Real Course: Psych 133F

DON'T LOSE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!!!! She is amazing, to say the least. As a lecturer she is very organized, clear and passionate about what she teaches. Not to mention, she is VERY attentive to student's concerns. The tests are simple because there are no curve balls. The only trick is that this class focuses on analyzing psychology and education articles and you get tested on the articles at the beginning of class. However, after the quiz (which is simple) she explains the articles in dept and encourages student discussion, experience and questions. YOU HONESTLY DON'T KNOW WHAT A GREAT PROFESSOR IS UNTIL YOU HAVE TAKEN PROFESSOR GIVVIN! (Please don't miss out)

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 14, 2013

This professor really cares about her students learning and doing well in her class. She gives a lot of power to the students and gives them time to interpret what she said and ask questions for clarification. One of the nicest professors here, take her :) Her class is based on reading scientific articles. You do learn a lot :D

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
PSYCH 133F
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 15, 2013

Givvin has to be one of my favorite Psych professors. She cares about her students, and the studies you learn about are actually very interesting! Most of them you can even apply to your daily life. I thought this course was very inspiring and I learned a lot. If you want an A, I wouldn't say you have to work too hard for it. Her questions on the midterm and exam come directly out of lectures, and she NEVER asks tricky questions; they are all straight to the point. That being said, she does give you a quiz via the iclicker at the beginning of each class. However, if you just skim the readings or simply read the title & abstract, you will most likely be able to answer all of the quiz questions which are again not meant to trick you. She also drops your two lowest quiz scores. I highly recommend her!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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