Kate Wassum
Department of Psychology
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2.7
Overall Rating
Based on 34 Users
Easiness 2.4 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 2.6 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.2 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.1 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

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GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
30.3%
25.2%
20.2%
15.1%
10.1%
5.0%
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.

28.0%
23.3%
18.6%
14.0%
9.3%
4.7%
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.

21.5%
17.9%
14.3%
10.8%
7.2%
3.6%
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.

27.7%
23.1%
18.5%
13.8%
9.2%
4.6%
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.

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Reviews (22)

2 of 3
2 of 3
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Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A+
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
May 15, 2022

I saw some of these reviews and was worried about taking this class but I found Professor Wassum to be very knowledgeable and willing to help. There's a textbook, but really everything you need to know is in her lectures (I never read from the textbook). The material can be difficult at times, especially since it all builds on each other. Discussions are not required, but very helpful to go to, since the TAs will cut down the lecture to the most important parts, and leave a lot of time for questions. The grade is based on a midterm, a final, and weekly assignments (which very simple and kinda fun because part of it is designing a social media post to represent the information [but don't worry, you don't have to actually post it haha]). The exams are both online during lecture time, and you can drop into Professor Wassum's Zoom room if you need clarification about exactly what a question or answer choice means.
I really enjoyed this class and unexpectedly actually got me really interested in behaviorist psychology as a career. I got a good grade in this class without working super hard either. I would just recommend keeping up with lectures and going to discussion sections.

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
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 29, 2022

I was super worried going into this class because of the reviews, but it turned out to be one of the easiest classes I've taken. Weekly summaries take 10 minutes to write. And the clarity of Wassum's lectures are 9/10 I'd say. The tests were quite straightforward as well. Maybe it was easier for me because the tests were online exams? I highly recommend this class from my experience. Again the disclaimer being the online format.

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 25, 2022

Alright the reviews here are super dramatic lmao. The exam averages for winter 2022 were in the high B to low A range… people did well lol. Relax

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: B-
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 16, 2022

Professor Wassum is clearly knowledgeable on the topic of learning. I just wish this class was easier to understand. For a professor who studies learning you would think she'd be an outstanding teacher. I got straight 100% on all 10 weekly summaries, which should supposedly show my understanding of the class, but her tests are just dreadful. I studied really hard and was able to make improvements, but if I knew this class would be the way it was, I wouldn't have taken it. I only recommend this class for people who really enjoy Pavlovian and Instrumental conditioning and have a good understanding of these topics and experiments. If you don't, then good luck, because this class is ROUGH.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2022
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 11, 2022

Listen, Professor Wassum is a true scientist who knows her materials very very well. If you are serious about research or are just slightly interested in how to train your pets, take her! Whether you want to be a neuroscientist working in a wet lab or a psychologist working in a dry lab, Professor Wassum uses relevant experiments to support the concepts learned in class -- a way to see the experimental effect of psycholology. Professor Wassum's tests are challenging but fun -- as you get to read about Beyonce, Olivia Rodrigo, and Drake in her tests! She also posts weekly discussion boards that clarify confusing concepts and she constantly answers questions on them. And not I mention, the only assignments in class making memes about the class materials, and are weekly summaries that take less than 30 minutes to make!! If you just take the work to show up for class, ask questions to clarify concepts, take the practice exams, you'd totally be fine!!

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2018
Grade: B
Dec. 10, 2018

I don’t think I would recommend this class to people who don’t have to take it ! The material is dry and Wassum’s lectures consisted of explaining experiments after experiments after experiments. The exams were difficult because required detailed regurgitation of specific experiments that were briefly mentioned in class (half multiple choice, half free response).

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2018
Grade: B
March 28, 2018

This class requires a lot of paying attention in class and rewatching the lectures online. Its not a hard class you just have to put in the work studying, I thought Professor Wassum was a very helpful professor in terms of clarity, she repeats a lot of things and explains them in different ways until her point comes across. Exams are very lecture based.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 9, 2015

Wassum is a very nice and helpful professor. She really tries to help you understand the lectures during office hours and even gives you hints on what to study for during the exam. However, be aware that this class is mainly about rats, dogs and pigeons. I honestly didn't like this class since I had no interest in this topic. The lectures are also podcasted which helped a lot!

Breakdown of class:
20%- weekly quizzes (1 quiz dropped)
-consisted of 4 free response/true false questions (book-based)
80%- 3 midterms (all equally weighted)
- 20 multiple choice and approx. 10 free response + 1 bonus question
-ALL LECTURE BASED

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 8, 2015

Honestly, taking 110 with Wassum isn't as bad as all the reviews here make it out to be. And trust me, it's not because I studied extremely hard or already understood the material. I entered into this class expecting to be miserable, but it was extremely doable. Her lecture material is extremely organized, and although the material can get confusing, podcasting and rewatching lectures helps a lot! Her exams were very lecture based and fair. She's quick to respond on the discussion forum, and her office hours are really helpful as well.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 2, 2015

AVOID THIS PROFESSOR! Her lectures only consist of research & graphs. Her exams expect you to know every little detail of those studies which is impossible. She doesn't even help you to understand what will be on the exams which are short answers and multiple choice. The short answers are graded way too harshly. There is no extra credit and your grade is made up of 2 midterms, a final, and weekly quizzes with your TA.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A+
May 15, 2022

I saw some of these reviews and was worried about taking this class but I found Professor Wassum to be very knowledgeable and willing to help. There's a textbook, but really everything you need to know is in her lectures (I never read from the textbook). The material can be difficult at times, especially since it all builds on each other. Discussions are not required, but very helpful to go to, since the TAs will cut down the lecture to the most important parts, and leave a lot of time for questions. The grade is based on a midterm, a final, and weekly assignments (which very simple and kinda fun because part of it is designing a social media post to represent the information [but don't worry, you don't have to actually post it haha]). The exams are both online during lecture time, and you can drop into Professor Wassum's Zoom room if you need clarification about exactly what a question or answer choice means.
I really enjoyed this class and unexpectedly actually got me really interested in behaviorist psychology as a career. I got a good grade in this class without working super hard either. I would just recommend keeping up with lectures and going to discussion sections.

Helpful?

0 2 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 2022
Grade: A+
March 29, 2022

I was super worried going into this class because of the reviews, but it turned out to be one of the easiest classes I've taken. Weekly summaries take 10 minutes to write. And the clarity of Wassum's lectures are 9/10 I'd say. The tests were quite straightforward as well. Maybe it was easier for me because the tests were online exams? I highly recommend this class from my experience. Again the disclaimer being the online format.

Helpful?

0 2 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
March 25, 2022

Alright the reviews here are super dramatic lmao. The exam averages for winter 2022 were in the high B to low A range… people did well lol. Relax

Helpful?

0 2 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 2022
Grade: B-
March 16, 2022

Professor Wassum is clearly knowledgeable on the topic of learning. I just wish this class was easier to understand. For a professor who studies learning you would think she'd be an outstanding teacher. I got straight 100% on all 10 weekly summaries, which should supposedly show my understanding of the class, but her tests are just dreadful. I studied really hard and was able to make improvements, but if I knew this class would be the way it was, I wouldn't have taken it. I only recommend this class for people who really enjoy Pavlovian and Instrumental conditioning and have a good understanding of these topics and experiments. If you don't, then good luck, because this class is ROUGH.

Helpful?

0 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 2022
Grade: A
March 11, 2022

Listen, Professor Wassum is a true scientist who knows her materials very very well. If you are serious about research or are just slightly interested in how to train your pets, take her! Whether you want to be a neuroscientist working in a wet lab or a psychologist working in a dry lab, Professor Wassum uses relevant experiments to support the concepts learned in class -- a way to see the experimental effect of psycholology. Professor Wassum's tests are challenging but fun -- as you get to read about Beyonce, Olivia Rodrigo, and Drake in her tests! She also posts weekly discussion boards that clarify confusing concepts and she constantly answers questions on them. And not I mention, the only assignments in class making memes about the class materials, and are weekly summaries that take less than 30 minutes to make!! If you just take the work to show up for class, ask questions to clarify concepts, take the practice exams, you'd totally be fine!!

Helpful?

0 1 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2018
Grade: B
Dec. 10, 2018

I don’t think I would recommend this class to people who don’t have to take it ! The material is dry and Wassum’s lectures consisted of explaining experiments after experiments after experiments. The exams were difficult because required detailed regurgitation of specific experiments that were briefly mentioned in class (half multiple choice, half free response).

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2018
Grade: B
March 28, 2018

This class requires a lot of paying attention in class and rewatching the lectures online. Its not a hard class you just have to put in the work studying, I thought Professor Wassum was a very helpful professor in terms of clarity, she repeats a lot of things and explains them in different ways until her point comes across. Exams are very lecture based.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 9, 2015

Wassum is a very nice and helpful professor. She really tries to help you understand the lectures during office hours and even gives you hints on what to study for during the exam. However, be aware that this class is mainly about rats, dogs and pigeons. I honestly didn't like this class since I had no interest in this topic. The lectures are also podcasted which helped a lot!

Breakdown of class:
20%- weekly quizzes (1 quiz dropped)
-consisted of 4 free response/true false questions (book-based)
80%- 3 midterms (all equally weighted)
- 20 multiple choice and approx. 10 free response + 1 bonus question
-ALL LECTURE BASED

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 8, 2015

Honestly, taking 110 with Wassum isn't as bad as all the reviews here make it out to be. And trust me, it's not because I studied extremely hard or already understood the material. I entered into this class expecting to be miserable, but it was extremely doable. Her lecture material is extremely organized, and although the material can get confusing, podcasting and rewatching lectures helps a lot! Her exams were very lecture based and fair. She's quick to respond on the discussion forum, and her office hours are really helpful as well.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 2, 2015

AVOID THIS PROFESSOR! Her lectures only consist of research & graphs. Her exams expect you to know every little detail of those studies which is impossible. She doesn't even help you to understand what will be on the exams which are short answers and multiple choice. The short answers are graded way too harshly. There is no extra credit and your grade is made up of 2 midterms, a final, and weekly quizzes with your TA.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
2 of 3
2.7
Overall Rating
Based on 34 Users
Easiness 2.4 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 2.6 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.2 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 3.1 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

There are no relevant tags for this professor yet.

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