DO NOT take this professor unless you LOVE atmospheric science so so so much. I came to this class with high interest in atmospheric science, but after a quarter, I'm not interested in it anymore. I still don't hate the material, but I hate him so much that this is the worst professor I've ever had.

Lecture: He post lecture slides ahead on Facebook group instead of CCLE. This did not bother me at the beginning, but I feel like checking out CCLE is just way more convenient. He discussed each of his slides very detailedly, but sometimes too detailed to understand what he is talking about. He sometimes used 10 more minutes for analogy to explain some concepts that can be explained within in 2 minutes. His explanation was so long that you get bored very often. There are tons of equations on his slides, and he assumed that everyone mastered in calculus. A lot of the times, his lectures were very very boring, and I just felt like I did not learn anything that could help me solve the problems.

Homework: Homework were math-based, and he walked you through the problems in discussions and office hours. I found them very helpful, but what he taught in the lecture just could not let me do the problems by myself. I recorded his lectures and relistened them for review, but those did not give any help for the homework.

Exam: Open-book midterm and final. These were generally easier than homework and were more concept-based. He was open to questions and he would explain how to do the questions during the final if many people don't know how to do. He also gave out extra time.

Grading: unlike he post below, he post the final grade and it seems like your grade is totally determined by your homework and exams. He took some attendance and said he would give out extra credits to those that showed up, but his words were not revealed on the grade book. He still graded homework depend on whether he likes the person or not. I've seen him being picky about explanations of a calculation question for one person, but giving full credit to a problem with no explanations at all for another person.

Personality: He was generally nice to everyone and hoped to get response during class and willing to help us out, but his arrogance and meanness sometimes really showed up. He despised the fact so much that some Chinese students did not learn some chemistry concepts in their high school. He answered phone calls during lecture and opened the speaker of the calls from Mercedes. Yes, he helped the students so much about homework and exams, but I hate him as a person.

Worst Professor I've ever met at the UCLA.
You will get the grade depending on your acting, not the grade you've got.If he likes you, you will get a good grade but if not, you never get good grade. I even don't know what my final grade is and asked him about my grade. HE NEVER ANSWER. He pretended to be nice throughout the quarter for evaluation sheet but if you finished it, he will change to be SOOooooo mean. NO replies, No care, even though you did gooooood job at the finals, your grade already been decided early before.

- Professor Li is knowledgeable about the topics taught in this class, which primarily focused on the formation of clouds, aerosols and their effects to the atmosphere, and incoming/outgoing radiation.

- He simplified many of these topics way down and does tell you the bottom line about what is most essential for each one (towards homeworks and tests).

- There were many times where classes were boring, but at times, the topics proved to be very interesting.

- There were 6 homeworks (20% of grade). Initially, some of the problems looked more complicated than others, but he posts hints on the class Facebook page (yes, he uses a group page vs. an ‘unwieldy’ CCLE) and explains them with more detail in discussion (no TA for this class – he leads discussion).

- There was 1 midterm (30%) and a final (40%).

- He provides equation sheet and some hints during tests (though more hints were given during midterm than final).

- The concepts from lectures were focused on more in tests (versus homeworks, where more calculations are performed). Again, he says in lecture the bottom line for each topic, and they’re reflected in tests.

- He cared about student learning, as reflected by mentioning it many times (including stepping away from a job at JPL to become a professor) and his emphasis on student participation.

- Though participation is only 10% of grade, he’s as big a stickler of it as any professor I’ve ever had. He has you sign a sheet into each class and uses that to keep track of every student who attends each class, asks/answers questions, and occasionally calls on those who are quiet.

- Overall, as long as you comprehend the material and do well on the homeworks and tests, you will get a decent grade.