As one of my friends commented earlier this year, isn't it interesting how the teachers who teach about education end up being the best educators?

Professor Givvin is no different. I don't think she could have been more clear in her delivery of class content. There really isn't much I can complain about. Participation in the class requires an iClicker Reef account, which she uses to assess attendance via quiz questions (not graded on accuracy). There is no homework except for readings that need to be completed before the beginning of each class. Exams are clearly not trying to trick you; if you attend lectures, you will get an A. Slides aren't posted, so either watching the lectures live or reviewing them on BruinCast is important.

She has a cool dog, too.

Professor Givvin genuinely cares about her students and is passionate about her field of study. The lectures are engaging and the assigned articles are extremely applicable to life. Her exams were always straightforward and taken straight from the lecture or clicker questions. As long as you take good notes and review clicker questions before an exam, you will do well. I learned so much in this class. I would definitely take her class again.

I absolutely love Professor Givvin! She is one of the sweetest, most caring professors I've had and the course material is super interesting! The course content mainly just consists of 2-3 journal articles per class, but she goes over them during class time. I know some people didn't read the articles, but I did and I definitely found that it helped me do well on the exams. I managed to get 100% on the tests, which were overall really straightforward. I would recommend reading (or at least skimming) the articles and annotating the main findings/methods. Attendance via Zoom is mandatory (she takes participation using iClicker questions), but you have 2 absences that won't count against your grade. I can't speak to how this class is in-person (I took it during COVID so it was online), but I absolutely loved it and I HIGHLY recommend!

Professor Givvin is what every professor should be like. She’s: easy to understand, compassionate about what she’s teaching, actively engaging with students’ questions and most importantly cares about what her students have to say. There are no tricky questions on her exams. Personally, I found all the articles we talked about very interesting, so I did not have to study much for both the 2 midterms and final. I was always excited for lecture. She has been one of my favorite professors in my three years at UCLA so far. Can’t recommend this class enough, please take it! You’ll learn something useful that you can apply to your life as a college student.

Brilliant professor who is very kind and sentimental about UCLA. The class had 3 big exams, two of which were non-cumulative and covered the first 12-ish lectures with multiple choice questions. The third exam was the final which covered the last 4-5 lectures as well as overarching concepts from all of the lectures (so kind of cumulative). The final was the only exam with short-answer questions in addition to the MC questions, but they weren't super hard. Just come to class. Seriously, she explains each and every research study that she assigns (I never read a single one. Okay, maybe one or two, but still!). Very easy class and very engaging. I did get a little annoyed by the use of iClicker questions in every single lecture, but that's just a personal dislike of mine, and I do believe they helped. Also EC given!

This class means so much to me and I encourage everyone to take it! First of all, Dr Givvin was very empathetic, kind, and upbeat during every class. Her passion for educational psychology in sport really comes through and it's a pleasure to talk with her and discuss topics in class. Secondly, the class itself taught me a lot about Wooden's ideologies and how they are simple but effective. His small ideas like being intentional with your actions and working hard really resonated with me.

There were 3 components to the class: discussion posts before each class based on our reactions to a reading, a short research paper, and a group video project. All assignments allowed us to be creative and thoughtful. There were some guidelines, but I felt I took liberties in my assignments and expressed my true opinions. Dr. Givvin expressed from the beginning that if our efforts shone through in our work (regardless of how articulate or insightful something was) that our grade would always reflect that. Also, the group project assignment was very balanced and collaborative (I know group projects can sometimes be annoying).

I also wanted to say that I'm not the type of person to speak up often in class or be very social, but Dr. Givvin and the rest of the class were very welcoming and friendly. I never felt I wasn't a part of the discussion or that my inputs were invalid.

Professor Givvin's class was a wonderful learning experience! Her class lectures were thorough and engaging, she always paused to confirm student understanding, and her tests were easy to perform well on if you read the assigned readings (the first two are fully multiple choice, and the final is a mix of multiple choice and short answer). The readings, which are weekly academic articles, are digestible enough to understand, but if you ever find yourself stuck office hours are a great resource. Note that Professor Givvin does use iClickers, so be sure to go to lecture if you want those participation points. Overall, 133F was one of the best, most applicable upper division psych courses I've taken at UCLA and I would definitely recommend to take this course!

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.