Salyards is a really nice guy and wants everyone to do well. I got an A- in the class with a very reasonable amount of effort. There are about four simple homework assignments beyond the labs which he grades very generously. The field trip can replace the lowest lab grade, but isn't really necessary because the TAs explain the answers on the labs. Every lecture is online, and after every lecture there is a 5 question online quiz which you take until you get a 100.