Shen Laoshi was a very great professor, definitely caring about student learning and having very engaging lectures. She was definitely flexible, and has adapted well to online learning. She also gave personal feedback for homework assignments and essays.
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The class is significantly different compared to the Chinese 1 to 3 series. While reviews from a decade or so ago indicate this class was an easy A, it appears that the Chinese series was overhauled a few years ago and made more difficult. All the homework and powerpoint slides were labeled “Chin 100A,” for example. Several chapters were skipped, and while not major, it helps to finish off the book from Chin 3 before starting this class.
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Regardless, the class was still not difficult, but the class did require quite a bit of work and studying. If you took Chinese 1-3 series, the following are the biggest changes:
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First would be essays. Two were take-home essays and one was in-class. Since the topics are given beforehand, including for the in-class essay’s topic, one can prepare for them.
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Second difference would be quizzes. One quiz is given per chapter, with 7 total and the lowest 2 dropped. These quizzes were quite long, around 45 minutes each, and felt quite a bit like the AP Exam style questions. They were all multiple choice, with listening and reading comprehension sections.
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Third difference would be text recordings, where you read the text dialogue by yourself or with a partner. Fortunately, this was graded based on completion only. I have mixed feelings about this; this was good speaking practice but sometimes felt like busy work.
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Last difference would be the final video project. This was a decent amount of work that should take 3 days to do, or about 12 hours total including subtitles and practice.
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Other than that, it didn’t feel too much different from the 1-3 series. Homework was based on completion and grade cutoffs were fixed. The written exams were open note (and actually not proctored whatsoever). Finally, two big logistics notes: First, Shen Laoshi gives you everything you need to do the homework assignments. The Workbook is NOT NEEDED. But, the textbook is highly helpful, and you SHOULD buy the textbook, but not the workbook. Second, the lectures are NOT recorded, but the slides are given out. That said, the slides themselves don’t have too much on them, so lectures are basically mandatory. Students are also graded on attendance.

What an amazing professor Shen Laoshi is! She cover so much content, makes learning easy, tries to adapt to each student, and cares so much. I really adore her. I take this class because I enjoy her presence that much.

Shen laoshi is a great teacher! She tries her best to make the class enjoyable and easy, though still making it necessary for the students to study and keep on top of the subject material. Homework is graded by effort and completion, so you don't have to worry about being right all the time. And she gradually increases the difficulty of the class so that you're not overwhelmed right off the bat. If you're diligent with memorizing the vocab, do all the assignments, and understand the grammar enough to use it somewhat, you've got an easy A.