Professor
Park Williams
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - For reference I am a Poli Sci and Geography double major with a 4.0 GPA. Pros: the class is somewhat interesting and the professor is quite engaging and I have no problem with his explanations during lectures. - the tricky content is slightly outweighed by Park as a good professor Cons: 1) TAs are an issue - this class is extremely TA dependent and what you get on assignments, which all add up to be 40% of your grade (4 assignments, 10% ea.), depends on your TA - I had a TA called Joan - and not only was she incompetent with the material, she was also an extremely harsh grader for someone who needs to google half the questions I ask her in section = conclusion: assignments are fine and not an extreme workload - but the grading really depends on your TA 2) Tricky tests and exams - this was in my opinion one of the heavier content classes out of my 3 this quarter of which I have spent a good amount of time studying and preparing for and still ended up with a B+ as a final grade - so my tip would be to study hard. [Midterm 17%, Final 33%] 3) Lectures aren't recorded - although he might have changed this towards the end of this quarter - it was extremely unhelpful at the start since he only started doing this Week 9. Things to look out for/tips: - Be SPECIFIC in your answers in your assignments and pay attention to the question - assignment grades are more important in the LR than you think! - Pick a good TA (anyone but Joan) - study ahead for midterm and final - they're worth 50% of your grade combined - go to lectures and LISTEN - he often says stuff that aren't written on the PPTs If you don't need to take this class and have other options, I would recommend perhaps entertaining those first and use this class as a last resort. And if you really need this class for a major requirement - I bid you good luck.
Winter 2025 - For reference I am a Poli Sci and Geography double major with a 4.0 GPA. Pros: the class is somewhat interesting and the professor is quite engaging and I have no problem with his explanations during lectures. - the tricky content is slightly outweighed by Park as a good professor Cons: 1) TAs are an issue - this class is extremely TA dependent and what you get on assignments, which all add up to be 40% of your grade (4 assignments, 10% ea.), depends on your TA - I had a TA called Joan - and not only was she incompetent with the material, she was also an extremely harsh grader for someone who needs to google half the questions I ask her in section = conclusion: assignments are fine and not an extreme workload - but the grading really depends on your TA 2) Tricky tests and exams - this was in my opinion one of the heavier content classes out of my 3 this quarter of which I have spent a good amount of time studying and preparing for and still ended up with a B+ as a final grade - so my tip would be to study hard. [Midterm 17%, Final 33%] 3) Lectures aren't recorded - although he might have changed this towards the end of this quarter - it was extremely unhelpful at the start since he only started doing this Week 9. Things to look out for/tips: - Be SPECIFIC in your answers in your assignments and pay attention to the question - assignment grades are more important in the LR than you think! - Pick a good TA (anyone but Joan) - study ahead for midterm and final - they're worth 50% of your grade combined - go to lectures and LISTEN - he often says stuff that aren't written on the PPTs If you don't need to take this class and have other options, I would recommend perhaps entertaining those first and use this class as a last resort. And if you really need this class for a major requirement - I bid you good luck.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I love Professor Williams! Hands down one of my favorite physical geography classes I have ever taken at UCLA. He is very passionate about what he is teaching. The figures on the slides are mostly made by himself, which makes it even more impressive. I have learned much about climate science and gained more appreciation for it. Even though I was trained to be a more human geographer, this class is A MUST if you are a geography major. The workload is reasonable with weekly lab questions (4-5 questions based on the lectures), a midterm, and a final. The exams are reasonable, and lab questions help you understand and learn the materials better. The textbook is helpful but unnecessary since it will cover everything in the slides anyway, but exploring more within the topics is good. The lecture attendance is not mandatory, but it is vital to fully understand the materials since the slides can be very bare bones. During my quarter, he also recorded the lecture, but it is not guaranteed that the video might be of good quality. The order of the lecture topics makes a lot of sense, building on one another and expanding my knowledge of this discipline. Overall, I enjoyed the class a lot and would recommend it to anyone interested in this field, especially to those majoring in geography, of course!
Spring 2023 - I love Professor Williams! Hands down one of my favorite physical geography classes I have ever taken at UCLA. He is very passionate about what he is teaching. The figures on the slides are mostly made by himself, which makes it even more impressive. I have learned much about climate science and gained more appreciation for it. Even though I was trained to be a more human geographer, this class is A MUST if you are a geography major. The workload is reasonable with weekly lab questions (4-5 questions based on the lectures), a midterm, and a final. The exams are reasonable, and lab questions help you understand and learn the materials better. The textbook is helpful but unnecessary since it will cover everything in the slides anyway, but exploring more within the topics is good. The lecture attendance is not mandatory, but it is vital to fully understand the materials since the slides can be very bare bones. During my quarter, he also recorded the lecture, but it is not guaranteed that the video might be of good quality. The order of the lecture topics makes a lot of sense, building on one another and expanding my knowledge of this discipline. Overall, I enjoyed the class a lot and would recommend it to anyone interested in this field, especially to those majoring in geography, of course!
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