DO NOT TAKE MALKAN IF YOU HAVE NO PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE IN ASTRONOMY OR PHYSICS!!!

I took him for astro 5 and even when I felt confident about the midterm he put topics that WE DID NOT FOCUS ON. He assumed we had previous knowledge in physics which I did not. Lectures were interesting, but the exams were by far too difficult for a GE.

Would only take if you are prepared to invest a lot of time into this class.

I took this class as a freshman and boy do I NOT recommend this class for a GE. It was very technical and was an unnecessary pain for a GE class (all of which should be easy). He goes into Physics and hardcore Math, so if you don't have a solid background in that, forget it.
So, I went to his office hours when I didn't understand the concepts and he "helped" me in such a way that I NEVER wanted to go back. He was condescending and didn't care for people who had a little less background in math and had trouble understanding. I pulled off a B+ without any help from him. Do yourself a favor, take an easy science GE like Atmo Sci 3 for an A and avoid this guy.

Take Astro 3, but NOT with him. I thought this was going to be my easiest class, but I had never taken Physics. I was screwed. I love astro, but lectures are boring and it is easy to fall asleep. There are better options for astro 3 teachers. I thought that material was really interesting, but I know I would have received a better grade and done less work with another teacher.

If you're looking for an easy Astro 3 class, don't take it with Malkan. I heard nothing but how easy Astro 3 is, and I took is with Malkan and I suffered greatly. If you never took physics, even more reason to not take this class, Malkan just expects you to get things and his lectures make no sense at times. The midterm and final are based on like what he thinks astro is about, so think twice.

DO NOT TAKE MALKAN FOR ASTRO 3 ... I REPEAT ... DO NOT TAKE MALKAN FOR ASTRO 3 ... take Mclean ... Malkan does not understand that this is a GE class nor non-science majors ... his midterms and finals are very specific ... and even his take home quizzes are hard ... Astro 3 is supposed to be fun and easy ... he made it aweful and hard ... he is a super nice guy with a zest for the topic ... but don't take him and think you'll get an A in astro 3 ... you take him and pray for a B!