Dr. Kaner is an incredible professor and if you are looking for a chemistry elective, you should absolutely take his class. The contents of this class was something I was completely unfamiliar with at first, but the way Dr. Kaner introduces and teaches these topics was really fascinating and got me interested in the subject. This is by no means an easy class, but Dr. Kaner and his TAs are incredibly knowledgeble and they will do everything they can to help you succeed as long as you reach out to them or attend their office hours (I highly recommend attending office hours). Although lecture is optional and recorded, I highly recommend attending in-person as Dr. Kaner often performs demonstrations that are difficult to watch on the recording. Still, re-watching lecture is still incredibly helpful. Dr. Kaner's exams are pretty difficult and tricky, and he always finds a way to surprise you no matter how much you study. Even so, I do think every question is fair and closely related to the lecture content. There is only one midterm and a final which makes up ~90% of your grade, but don't worry if you don't do too well on the midterm as this class is curved very generously (expect at least a full letter grade curve).
Overall, I cannot recommend Dr. Kaner enough. If you got time to take his class, then take it! (Also check out his honors seminar class, it's really laid-back and fun!)

Professor Kaner was great. He was super engaging during lectures which made it so much easier to remember material. He also focused more on conceptual things rather than calculations which was really nice. There was homework, one midterm, and a final. A lot of your grade depends on the midterm and final so be sure to prepare. In my opinion, the midterm and final were super fair, there was never anything we didn't go over in lecture. Just be sure to know how to apply the concepts. He even showed us a couple of reactions in class which was cool. Take him if you get the chance!

I verified my account only to leave Dr. Kaner a review. He is an absolute charm! He is, as expected, very knowledgeable, and has the ability to relate difficult concepts to everyday life; making it much easier for everyone to understand. The concepts are not easy (that's just the nature of the class–very abstract), but he records everything! I recommend rewatching every lecture and making sure you start to recognize how all the concepts start to connect. If you do it right, by the end of the class, your mind will be absolutely blown as to how intricate, yet calculated, something as simple as rock salt is.

If you have questions: just ask! He is welcoming and willing to respond to questions during lecture. Don't be too alarmed if day one makes absolutely no sense to you, it will, eventually...it just takes a minute to train your thoughts. I feel as if I didn't fully start understanding until the midterm, it did not get easier, but it did get a lot more fun!

Also 10/10 recommend taking 189, not only do you get honors credit, but it's also truly an enjoyable class. This class reminded me why I went to school, to be in spaces with people as knowledgable as him willing to share that knowledge with students. It reminded me why science made me so excited (which is easy to forget when you are always focused on passing a class). Honestly, sometimes I wouldn't even go to my other classes, and would only show up to this. This seminar literally gave me something to look forward to during a very difficult quarter.

TAKE THE CLASS!!! (also I believe its only offered in Fall...but don't quote me on that!)

If you are like me and needed a chemistry elective as a biochem major, I would recommend taking this class to satisfy the requirement. By no means is it an "easy A" class, and I was also intimidated even enrolling in it due to hearing about the difficulty and honestly just not knowing what inorganic chemistry even entails. I joked with my friend that this class is more of a drawing and geometry class. You will essentially expand upon VSEPR theory, electron configurations and spin, and molecular orbital theory to explain transition metal chemistry. What makes the class difficult is the speed at which Kaner starts describing shapes and not really providing clear visuals to accompany that. If you want a snapshot of what the class entails, you can google symmetry, point groups or crystal field theory to see what I mean.

The class structure never changes: 8 HW assignments worth 3 points each (2 points for just completing), a 100 point midterm in-class week 6, and a 200 point final. To succeed, I highly recommend just watching the recorded lectures but NOT on 1.5x or 2x speed. Surprisingly, almost all of the information on his slides can be expected on exams and it's pretty crucial that you understand every lecture because the topics build on each other. Like everyone says, the midterm is 50 minutes for about 10 pages BUT it is absolutely doable to finish the exam in 25-30 if you can get your hands on old exams. He did explicitly mention to us that his exams are meant to be difficult and he rarely expects or sees anyone get 90 and above, but that our average of 68 was quite high. The curve is very generous, so I highly recommend practicing as much as possible and also making your own questions if you can. Lastly for exam prep, the TAs usually cover the highest yield topics and even though discussion isn't mandatory, it could help a lot with studying.

This class is very doable if you are someone who is pretty diligent and keeps up with the work. None of his exam questions are super difficult and almost always the answer or method was mentioned somewhere in lecture. This is definitely a class that relies on synthesizing information, understanding how they build up and application. For reference I scored in the high 80s for both exams and ended with an A.

I really recommend this class as a chem elective. Make sure to take the honors too. He is a very good lecturer, the topics are interesting. Exams are tricky, but don't panic if you fail the first exam. I did rather poorly on the first one, but still managed a B in the class. The symmetry stuff felt impossible to understand, so try to maximize points elsewhere.

I really recommend this class as a chem elective. Make sure to take the honors too. He is a very good lecturer, the topics are interesting. Exams are tricky, but don't panic if you fail the first exam. I did rather poorly on the first one, but still managed a B in the class. The symmetry stuff felt impossible to understand, so try to maximize points elsewhere.

I recently completed Chem 171 with Professor Richard Kaner at UCLA, and I have mixed feelings about the experience. As a chemistry major, I found the course to be one of the most challenging ones at UCLA, and I would advise biochem majors to consider alternatives if possible.

On a positive note, Professor Kaner is undeniably a great lecturer and very engaging. His passion for the subject is evident, and he makes the material interesting. However, the structure of the class left much to be desired. The way the course was organized made it particularly difficult, and my overall experience was negative. I mean absolutely horrible. My main gripe concerns the teaching assistants (TAs) associated with the course. While Professor Kaner is excellent, the TAs fell short in several areas. Firstly, there were issues with grading accuracy. My exams were graded incorrectly, and despite bringing this to the attention of my TA, I did not receive the points back. It was so frustrating. They also don't help. I don't know what it with his TAs is but they hate teaching, God damn it, don't teach and don't become a TA then. Effective communication is crucial in a challenging course like Chem 171, and struggling to understand the TAs made the learning experience even more arduous. The TAs also do not reply to your emails, like they reply back in two weeks and think they are still doing their job.

The final exam was another sore point. It was graded harshly, and I strongly believe there were mistakes in the grading process. I would never wanna go back to this class, I hated every second of it. If Kaner had different graduate students and other TAs, then I would have probably liked this class much more. One last tip would be to attend Kaner's office hours and skip TA's discussions. They should be banned from teaching (go to your lab and do your research)

I enjoyed Kaner's teaching style. Despite the slides being rather old and occasionally has errors, the TAs were helpful in fixing them quickly. There were many great examples relating to his research; he also passed out many items for us to experience and learn about with some occasional demos. He's really funny, prioritizes learning, and is an outgoing professor. He also hosts many office hours which cleared up many questions and most of the TAs were helpful. If you are interested and can fit his 1 hour seminar (Chem 189), I highly recommend it.

Personally, I struggled a lot in this class for my first quarter. The midterm and final exam isn't conceptually hard but it was incredibly comprehensive which was not my core strength. With only 50 minutes for the midterm, it was really hard to check our answers and also move on to the next question. The final exam is also very comprehensive but you get 3 hours which made it better. I thought I failed this class but he curves incredibly heavily and I got a B. The average is likely ~60% for both midterm and final exam so do your best to understand the material and know when to move on to the next question if you get stuck.

This class was definitely top 3 hardest classes I've taken so far. This class covers a lot of brand new information which I don't think is really covered in other chem classes. Had weekly problems sets which weren't too bad but make sure you have a good understanding of them! Do not recommend taking this class your first quarter as a transfer student because I was not prepared for the quarter system + a super hard class. If you spend time trying to understand the concepts and memorizing things like the different crystal structure, it will be really beneficial! Make sure you have good understanding of pi orbitals, hybridization, molecular geometry because this class is fulllll of that!

Probably one of the hardest chem classes I've taken. The way the midterms are structured, there is so much material you have to study and it definitely did not feel like a 4 unit class. Those taking this for an "easy A" be warned. Homework was moderate to light with weekly assignments and his lectures were pretty great. Kaner really loves the subject but you really have to put in a lot of time and effort to get a good grade in this class because the exams are just that hard.