Professor
Yongkang Xue
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Very interesting class, I learned a lot as a non-GEOG/AOS major about climate and its components. The professor cares about student learning and has decent slides and coursereader material. I've never gone to office hours but I'm sure he'll be happy to answer questions, he takes time to explain concepts too. As others have mentioned he does have a pretty heavy accent, but at most you'll have to pay a little more attention, it's not a big deal. I would recommend this class if you have some interest in climate, you don't even need much background. You need the coursereaders for the 2 homeworks (15% each), though I also found that the lectures were based exactly off them so I just mainly studied the coursereader for the final (40%, midterm was 30%) since it was well organized, relatively concise and had all the information taught in lectures anyways. Exams are straightforward and nothing tricky. Some questions are concepts straight from his slides which he explains in class (e.g. diagrams, tables, laws). Overall very managable class with moderate workload, and I like that a lot of what we learned in class was not purely theoretical, but applications and real-world stuff. Text me ********** if you wanna buy my coursereaders at discounted price (almost brand new and I'm pretty sure he's used the same one for years).
Fall 2020 - Very interesting class, I learned a lot as a non-GEOG/AOS major about climate and its components. The professor cares about student learning and has decent slides and coursereader material. I've never gone to office hours but I'm sure he'll be happy to answer questions, he takes time to explain concepts too. As others have mentioned he does have a pretty heavy accent, but at most you'll have to pay a little more attention, it's not a big deal. I would recommend this class if you have some interest in climate, you don't even need much background. You need the coursereaders for the 2 homeworks (15% each), though I also found that the lectures were based exactly off them so I just mainly studied the coursereader for the final (40%, midterm was 30%) since it was well organized, relatively concise and had all the information taught in lectures anyways. Exams are straightforward and nothing tricky. Some questions are concepts straight from his slides which he explains in class (e.g. diagrams, tables, laws). Overall very managable class with moderate workload, and I like that a lot of what we learned in class was not purely theoretical, but applications and real-world stuff. Text me ********** if you wanna buy my coursereaders at discounted price (almost brand new and I'm pretty sure he's used the same one for years).
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Profe Xue is such an amazing professor overall. If you want a class that does not require a lot of attention because of other heavy loaded courses, def take this class!! I was able to work on the assignments for about one week they were due, and never really looked at the course day to day. Attend lectures, be present, he will love you. The class consisted of 2 HW assignments that were 15% and around 10 questions (easy As) (He emphasized a lot too that these answers (including exams answer) should be SHORT, ARE short and to the point) 1 Midterm (duable just study in advance so you don't waste time during the exam looking for answers and for someone that had a completely different field of study I got a low A) (also he extended the time and its about 8-10 short answer questions) 1 Final (relatively easy/difficult since he will add about 2-3 questions that are extremely difficult) ( I def wasn't able to answer like 2-3 hard questions but still received a high grade for the course) He mentioned as long as you put some answer, you will get some credit, maybe not all but at least something. Since the Final is worth a lot more than anything, it can swing your grade quite a bit. He even said that it'll be pretty difficult to receive an A so if you're okay with getting a high B, take this course. Also, you will get a Study guide so be sure to do that. He will also basically give you an answer or the direction to an answer for HWs so go to his OFFICE HOURS. All exams require a turned-on camera bc he does not want anyone to work together but you can use notes, the study guide, the internet really anything you want. The best part of this course was that I did not have to give full attention all the time. I was able to focus the majority of my time on my other heavy and hard science courses. I was able to balance this course easily.
Fall 2020 - Profe Xue is such an amazing professor overall. If you want a class that does not require a lot of attention because of other heavy loaded courses, def take this class!! I was able to work on the assignments for about one week they were due, and never really looked at the course day to day. Attend lectures, be present, he will love you. The class consisted of 2 HW assignments that were 15% and around 10 questions (easy As) (He emphasized a lot too that these answers (including exams answer) should be SHORT, ARE short and to the point) 1 Midterm (duable just study in advance so you don't waste time during the exam looking for answers and for someone that had a completely different field of study I got a low A) (also he extended the time and its about 8-10 short answer questions) 1 Final (relatively easy/difficult since he will add about 2-3 questions that are extremely difficult) ( I def wasn't able to answer like 2-3 hard questions but still received a high grade for the course) He mentioned as long as you put some answer, you will get some credit, maybe not all but at least something. Since the Final is worth a lot more than anything, it can swing your grade quite a bit. He even said that it'll be pretty difficult to receive an A so if you're okay with getting a high B, take this course. Also, you will get a Study guide so be sure to do that. He will also basically give you an answer or the direction to an answer for HWs so go to his OFFICE HOURS. All exams require a turned-on camera bc he does not want anyone to work together but you can use notes, the study guide, the internet really anything you want. The best part of this course was that I did not have to give full attention all the time. I was able to focus the majority of my time on my other heavy and hard science courses. I was able to balance this course easily.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2020 - Professor Xue was the only professor I went to OH for because he genuinely wants students to succeed and he's one of the only professors that actually tries to get to know you (he memorizes everyone's names). The workload of the class is pretty light and if you study the study guide he gives then you will be fine (he gives it a week in advance so you have time). Also, the study guide is longer than the actual exams so as long as you study that you'll be fine. All the info you need to do well in the class is in the handouts. The exams are short answers which I was initially scared for because I've never taken a blue book exam before but he's mainly just looking for keywords and even said bullet points are fine for some questions. I don't get why the other reviews are so harsh. Professor Xue doesn't try to trick you on exams and he repeats/stresses the important concepts a lot so you can guess what will be on the exam. Just because he has an accent doesn't mean he's a bad professor, you guys are just racist.
Winter 2020 - Professor Xue was the only professor I went to OH for because he genuinely wants students to succeed and he's one of the only professors that actually tries to get to know you (he memorizes everyone's names). The workload of the class is pretty light and if you study the study guide he gives then you will be fine (he gives it a week in advance so you have time). Also, the study guide is longer than the actual exams so as long as you study that you'll be fine. All the info you need to do well in the class is in the handouts. The exams are short answers which I was initially scared for because I've never taken a blue book exam before but he's mainly just looking for keywords and even said bullet points are fine for some questions. I don't get why the other reviews are so harsh. Professor Xue doesn't try to trick you on exams and he repeats/stresses the important concepts a lot so you can guess what will be on the exam. Just because he has an accent doesn't mean he's a bad professor, you guys are just racist.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - The class is smooth and organized. Prof Xue is good at explaining complicated theories by graphs and pictures, which are really helpful for some arduous concepts. Generally the workload is fine, he does not give excessive homework or essays, but there will be midterm and final that take a large part of your grade. BTW, if any of you wants the readers, I have second-hand ones which cost much less than new ones! Text ********** for them!
Fall 2021 - The class is smooth and organized. Prof Xue is good at explaining complicated theories by graphs and pictures, which are really helpful for some arduous concepts. Generally the workload is fine, he does not give excessive homework or essays, but there will be midterm and final that take a large part of your grade. BTW, if any of you wants the readers, I have second-hand ones which cost much less than new ones! Text ********** for them!
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