Comm156 with Lamberson can be frustrating. He's a funny guy and that's nice, but it's also clear that a lot of the quizzes (six per quarter) and tests (midterm and final) are meant to be tricky. That's part of learning, obviously, but it doesn't necessarily feel like genuine learning vs. figuring out the ins-and-outs of his questions. The tests felt easier and were what boosted my grade. I attribute that in large part to figuring out how he words things.

Lamberson is arguably one of the most intelligent individuals on campus. He primarily taught PhD students at MIT and other top-tier universities. His studies on social networks are complex and very noteworthy. At first, I didn't care for him, mostly because his tests are pretty difficult and are meant to trick you. But this class seems too basic for him to teach, as you can tell when he tries to explain the basics of statistics. There is a group project that requires you to do your own "experiment," coming up with a hypothesis and elaborating on your fake results. There are a few homework assignments, as well as a midterm and final. If you have a good TA, then the grading is pretty fair. Lamberson cares about his students. He's willing to help people outside of his office hours, which I respect. It just requires more studying than other Comm classes to obtain a good grade.

Lamberson is a great guy, and the other class I took with him was awesome, he was clearly very passionate about it. The problem with this class is that he lacks passion, I really feel like he didn't care what he was teaching. The first half is fine, things you've definitely learned in other classes starting in about 6th grade. The second half is Stats based, and I've just been racking my brain to pull up information taught in Stats 10 because it is a lot more helpful than what he teaches. He's a nice guy and means well but lacks clarity and organization. Often times he would start teaching a concept and then in the middle say, "you guys don't need to know this though" which made it hard to know what we should and should not know. Tests are multiple choice and a bit tricky, group project isn't too bad if you have helpful group members.

I had very mixed feelings about this class throughout the quarter. In the beginning I loved it, the professor was super passionate about what he was teaching, the slides were well organized, lectures were thorough. But then the class took a turn with some very simple but unexpected math and the use of a software program that made me hate it for a bit. At the end however, I am back to really enjoying the class, I mastered the use of the software and found out some information that I think is relevant beyond the class. Midterm exam was very easy if you study, all multiple choice and True/False. There are quizzes every Monday, the lowest one is dropped, but that means attendance is pretty necessary. The professor was willing to clear up any questions and really elaborate if the class was confused. There are no TA sections but the TA was readily available to help if need be. This class is about real social networks in life, not about social networking sites, just FYI.

Heavy on stats

As a graduating senior at UCLA, this is hands down one of my favorite -- if not-- my favorite class I've ever taken. Professor Lamberson is a very adept professor who teaches at a great pace, ensuring everyone is following the materials, and seems to really care. The concepts of this class are super applicable in the real world, especially for people trying to go into marketing and social media, and I find myself leaving the class more interested in this area of study than I would have expected going in. I actually enjoyed going to class lol

None of the workload was too much or out of left field. The quizzes are definitely hard... and I think some of them are worded somewhat ambiguously but the tests are more moderate.

If anyone is looking to take a class that is super interesting, and taught by a really nice and caring professor I would recommend it!

Class can be difficult. Quizzes and exams are intentionally hard. Professor had a student who had an anxiety attack during the midterm and asked us to "not do that."
Material is interesting but very theoretical at times. The TA saved this class for me.
Homework assignments take a long time, start them early.
Overall not terrible but I recommend another comm for this required core.

*If you hate math skip this professor at all costs.* I would have rather taken this class with Peterson or Kernell. Lamberson is super unorganized and unclear. And for the love of god, please do not save 150 for your last quarter at UCLA. Not a fun note to leave off on...

I really wish that I never took this class with Lamberson and took it with Peterson instead. The second half of the class was strictly math without a proper incorporation of relevant class concepts from the first half so it felt completely pointless. OH AND WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE CALCULATORS ON THE FINAL so that was such an enjoyable experience! He also just expected us to know the area of a triangle without even mentioning that a homework problem would require such prior knowledge. The lectures and homework did not overlap as much as they should have. The homework was completely different from the exams, which was quite frankly a waste of time and annoying since they were due every single Sunday so my weekends were always stressful. He also should have had powerpoint slides for the formulas instead of writing on an old school chalk board that was hard to read at times. I basically had to teach myself the entire second half of the class via YouTube videos or videos on Khan Academy, so I was basically paying over $1,000 to teach myself for a mandatory class, let that sink in.

As for the GROUP PROJECT: Since the T.A. assigns the groups based on discussion, I was stuck with lazy fellow classmates who lacked a strong work ethic and creativity for the research proposal group project so I basically did the whole project with one other member while a third group member (a smart ass, sexist guy in my group) tried to take credit for everything during the presentation and would barely let me get a word in. Although, my group did well on the project, I did not have enough time to prepare for the final so I ended up getting screwed in the end and my grade dropped from an A.

Overall, Lamberson seems like a nice man. However, unfortunately as a professor, he was disengaged this whole quarter, he lacked passion for teaching this class. However, in fairness, he might have been going through some difficult personal issues so hopefully the next time, he teaches this course, things will change.

This class is incredibly straightforward. Simply going to lecture, taking notes, and reviewing them is enough to do well.The homework assignments will probably take about 5-6 hours per assignment, but you will have plenty of time to do them. The professor is really mindful of people's workloads and he will often move deadlines around to accommodate people.

The midterm was simply a repeat of many of the quiz questions. If a concept is too complicated, feel free to stop him and he will happily spend a whole lecture clarifying it. He doesn't let anyone leave his class confused and he welcomes questions. He uses slides, but the slides are not very helpful unless you go to class so lecture attendance is important. He also has weekly quizzes, but they are pretty easy if you review the lectures about 10 minutes before class (and they also help you minimize study time for the midterm/final).

All in all, I recommend this class.