For Fall 2021 this class was asynchronous, except for the discussion sections which were in person. I never met the professor in person, but from the narrated lectures she seemed extremely nice and very passionate about the content. The slides were sometimes long, but I would sometimes skim them. I had Madison F. as my TA, and I honestly loved and enjoyed going to section. She was very helpful and very knowledgable about the content. She graded very fairly. The final grade was composed of discussion forums, weekly worksheets, and a final project (there was no midterm or final exam). For the discussion forums and worksheets we only had to complete 7 which was pretty nice. I enjoyed taking this class and would take it again with the same professor, I totally recommend. Going to discussion section was NOT mandatory, but it was EXTREMELY helpful to go since they went over the content and most of the times my TA answered questions that were on the worksheets. There was no textbook required for this class since the professor provided all the readings online, so no need to spend money :)

I would highly recommend this class. Professor Calderon is kind and thoughtful. She really cares and about her students. Both her and my TA were very understanding of the impacts of online learning on students. While going to her office hours didn't help me content-wise, she was very knowledgeable and a fun person to have a conversation with. The grading is VERY fair (many many extra credit opportunities) and no money drop required for any materials (all provided in pdfs).

Overall a very chill class. Would take again.

Content is interesting, workload is very reasonable, and extra credit opportunities abound (up to 10%). Prof Arroyo and the TA were excellent, fair graders, engaging, and listened to our feedback. Highly recommend this class as a GE.

Loved this class! It was extremely easy and I learned so much! Highly recommend Profesora Calderon and Leandro for your TA.

This class is so chill online--no exams, no mandatory lectures, just weekly assignments based off of powerpoint and a final project. The assignments take a few hours each week, but you save a lot of time not having to attend lectures

Took this class asynchronous during COVID, there are discussions every week that were optional, but were interesting and went over the week's content. There were plenty of opportunities for extra credit. Weekly lectures were posted and 1 worksheet due at the end of each week based on lecture materials. Weekly discussion board. NO midterms or exams, just a final project, which was very flexible and fun to do. TA was very understanding and helpful. Super fun and interesting GE! I loved it and would take it again :)

Overview:
-I took this class because it fulfilled a GE and also counts towards a Spanish minor, this was the perfect class overall! Since it is ~corona time~ all the lectures were recorded (asynchronous) and you can watch them at your leisure. However, you do not need to watch a single lecture to get an A in the course! The discussion sections were also optional, which you can also skip and still get an A like I did. Super easy class as you only need to do weekly discussion posts (7 posts, 5 replies over the quarter) and weekly worksheets (doing 7 out of the 10 gets you full points). All the worksheets are about 5 or 6 questions and took roughly 2-3 hours max to complete (with distractions/study breaks haha). All the TAs were very accommodating and understanding if you needed to turn in anything late as long as you explained why. ALSO, THERE IS NO MIDTERM EXAM AND NO FINAL EXAM. There is a final project though, but I would take that over an exam any day.

Materials:
-no textbook required
-weekly readings are posted by the professor (which you also do not need to do to get an A)
-everything was digital and submitted through CCLE to your TA

Midterms/Finals:
-no midterm or final exams
-only a final project which was completely open to whatever you want to do (you can do a research paper, short film, song, artwork, or even a Spotify playlist). Whatever form you choose to do the project in needs to be accompanied by a 2-3 page reflection (why did you choose this project? were there any issues? what did you learn?).
-pretty easy and straightforward overall

Weight:
-discussion board- 20%
-weekly worksheets- 40%
-final project- 40%

Final thoughts:
THIS IS AN EASY A. TAKE THIS CLASS. IT FULFILLS A GE. YOU LITERALLY DONT HAVE TO GO TO CLASS AND IS ABOUT 3 HOURS OF WORK MAX PER WEEK. Read that sentence again. 3 hours per WEEK. That's literally nothing. 11/10 class though, definitely would recommend.

I can easily say Professor Arroyo was one of the best I've ever had. She makes lectures very engaging and is clear on material as a whole and material that will be on exams. The workload is just right and she offers extra-credit opportunities if need be. She is very welcoming and offers all the resources available to assure that you succeed in her class. Highly recommend this course and specifically if taught by her.

Professor Calderon is a great professor and her passion for the topic comes through! Her lectures can be a little slow at times but overall I think the class was interesting. The pop quizzes were pretty easy (doing the readings is important but you can get by with skimming them before class) but they do mean you have to go to class just in case. Section was helpful as review, and the tests were straightforward. Easy A, just don't forget about the class completely and it helps to get the movie reviews done early.

Spanish44 w/ Professor Calderon was one of the first classes I have taken at UCLA as an incoming freshman. The content is easy to understand, and the professor's lively and passionate lectures were engaging at first, but me and probably half of the class stopped going to class b/c participation didn't matter (technically it sorta did b/c professor said she would bring up a grade by one grade scale if a student had perfect attendance) & the TAs just went over all the content in discussion sections. Also the professor uploads the powerpoints on CCLE (although she doesn't write all the notes you need for certain topics or pictures that are tested). You do need to attend discussion sections b/c the TAs do take attendance & participation. I think there were like 3-5 pop quizzes that were mostly pretty easy if you read the readings but I did struggle for one or two of them b/c the reading was sometimes confusing. I'd say the content is pretty interesting, but as someone who dislikes learning history in general, I gave up trying to understand and learn the course material after my midterm. If I gave more effort to my film review assignment thingy & final, I definitely could've gotten an A. However, this is a very easy GE class that also fulfills your diversity requirement.