Nice guy! I took Astro 3 and it was interesting and I thought the lectures were interesting enough. His slides were pretty similiar to the book, but he sometimes had is own interesting insights. The labs were easy and boring. I got an A- without ever studying so if you're looking for an easy GE this fits the bill.

Astronomy 3 with Fitzgerald was by far the easiest class I've taken at UCLA. If you're looking for an easy A and an extremely interesting GE, this course fits the bill in every way. Everything from the local bodies in our solar system to the history of the universe and relativity was covered, and for the average lay person (like me), the material could be quite mind-blowing at times. Your grade is based off of two midterms and a final, filled with questions ranging from easy to insultingly-easy, and off of labs, which are also very rudimentary. That being said, everything is extremely interesting, so you never feel like you're being talked-down to or that you're wasting your time in lecture. I would recommend anyone with a physical science GE requirement take this course; just sit back, relax, and enjoy Fitzgerald's tour through the universe.

I took Astronomy 3 with Professor Fitzgerald during Winter 2015. It was my favorite class of the entire quarter. The class itself was not too difficult. During lecture, Professor Fitzgerald goes over the material from the book. He follows it really closely, so it's not necessary to attend lecture; Though, you should attend because you paid for this class! I believe he should expand a little further on the material rather than going over everything from the book, but you only have ten weeks, and you're trying to get the big idea. As a professor, he is very approachable and very helpful! He took time to make office hours, since I could not really attend his usual ones. The grading of class is rather generous, to be honest. We had two midterms. The first average was 83% and the second was 70%. I feel like he deliberately made the first exam easy, and trolled us with a harder second exam. The final, being cumulative, was fair. It was an amalgamation of simple to difficult questions, depending on whether you did the reading or studied. The average for the exam was 71%. What really screwed me over were the online quizzes. These questions can be anything from simple to really specific. Make sure to read before you attempt it. You are limited on time with these quizzes. The other grading portion was the lab portion of the class. This was the area with my lowest scores. This, however, depends on your TA. I had friends who would always score perfect, and their TA was helpful and friendly. My TA was pretty monotone and gave brief instructions before commencing the labs. The overall grade is weighed as followed: Midterm 1 &2 20%, Final 30%, Labs 20%, Quizzes 10%. The class is curved, by the way. As a double major of both North and South campus, I enjoyed the class. This class, overall, was not an easy A, though. If you're a lazy student that doesn't want to read or study, I suggest you look into something else. If you have some interest in learning about the cosmos, take this class! You will love it, and the professor! Best of luck!

Very organized, helpful and nice professor.