ENV S 108O
MARTIN J A
Jen Martin
76 reviews

ES3 . Martin J A 3 Years Ago

Env S 3 was a fun class with Martin. Lots of reading, but low time commitment otherwise. About 1-2 hours of lectures a week, 4 pre-section reflections, and essays for midterm/final. She's clearly super passionate about her work and super empathetic towards students. Would recommend!

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ES3 . Martin J A 3 Years Ago

The lectures and course content have been super interesting but most importantly the professor has been so kind and understanding about circumstances outside of school. Not too lecture heavy which is great but there is a lot of reading and a decent amount of writing. Would recommend if you're interested in the subject though!

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ES3 . Martin J A 3 Years Ago

Your grade pretty much depends on your TA. Participate in section and go to your TA's office hours to see exactly what they're looking for in the papers. You have to participate in section for full credit anyways, and the material can get pretty interesting. Lectures are pretty boring, but worth going through so you know what the class is all about

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ES3 . Martin J A 3 Years Ago

I am making this rating to emphasize how understanding of student's circumstances Professor martin has been in all of her classes throughout this pandemic. She really makes it feel like our health and well being come first. The classes are interesting enough, but it is her compassion that makes her so wonderful.

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ES3 . Martin J A 4 Years Ago

Her lectures were boring and dry, she read off a piece of paper the whole time. The class was very interesting and it was basically reading 2 books (1498 and the Great Acceleration). I enjoyed both the books but I could not stand her lectures I was going to die from boredom. Her tests are fair but SA graded harshly (depends on TA). Focus on paper.

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ES3 . Martin J A 4 Years Ago

*COVID version of class* Loved it! Readings were super interesting; you learn more about the Anthropocene/history rather than technical ES topics though. She is really kind and wants you to succeed. Doable amount of work each week: reading, videos, quiz, forum posts and responses. The forum posts prep you for the big final essay. No midterm/final.

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ES3 . Martin J A 4 Years Ago

*took during online spring '20 so may be diff in person* Great prof! Cares a lot abt subject & students. Lectures are v interesting but talks a lot & doesn't have much on slides so gotta listen well. Weekly quizzes on reading 40ish pages/wk (books actually interesting). No midterm/final, just big essay. Interesting class for everyone to take w her

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ES3 . Martin J A 4 Years Ago

Jen is honestly an amazing professor! Clearly very passionate about ES and this class will definitely broaden your perspectives. Quite a bit of reading to do every week but they are manageable because the assigned readings are so extremely interesting and correspond with the class topics. Super nice as are all the T.A.s for the course.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

Interesting concepts in the class and I feel like Professor Martin really tried her best and is super passionate but I don't feel like this class really contributed to my overall understanding of environmental studies. Lectures and readings are super dense, exams were super specific so it's really difficult to study.

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ENVS173 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

I love her enthusiasm for every subject I've had her in, but an incredibly tough grader. I've written her 4 essays and poured my heart and soul into them and she never grades me above a C. I'm not the world's best writer but I have written some really good papers for her, alas, she doesn't like them.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

2 midterms, final, paper, and section attendance, MC questions on exams are super specific and historical (not related to the core concepts), IDs (essays) on exams are impossible to get full points on (even if you write a lot) books are super long & she takes questions from them that are very detailed so its impossible to remember

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

very passionate about the subjects she teaches & you are able to learn so much from her teaching methods. Yes, you have to pay attention in lecture and go to class (most of the time haha), and she tends to assign readings, but you really extend your knowledge and perspective of life. Class for ppl interested in the matter, not a GE if u don't read

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

She tried really hard which I did appreciate but the class was difficult. Mainly difficult because the slides were bare but the lectures were dense so it was hard to go back and review material. If she reads this review in the future, please post more lecture notes!!

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

I thought Jen was a great, caring professor. She is knowledgeable on the course and really teaches you a lot. Yes, she does lecture pretty fast, but you also get to learn so much in 10 weeks. She is passionate and very available for questions and extra help.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

ugh super frustrating I took this GE as a grade. waaaaay harder than expected and book was way too long, lectures were waaaaay too specific. two midterms and a paper on the long ass book. IDs on the midterms and its not you get 5 and pick 3 its you HAVE TO DO EVERY SINGLE ONE :( sad bc I feel like shes really trying to make the class enjoyable

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

Concept of this class was not hard, but a majority of the questions she chose to ask were more historical (and arguable insignificant) and contributed nothing to my overall understanding of environmental studies. Lecture slides are posted online but have zero explanation to them so going to class is recommended. Not a good teacher for this subject.

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ENVS3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

Slides are useless, just random bullet points with no actual info or context. Most information come from a paper she reads off of in lectures, which she reads way faster than my hand could copy down. Throws a bunch of case study at you and expects you to memorize them. test is split into MC, T/F, FRQ aka identifications, and map locations,STAY AWAY

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

This class has been the worst one I have taken at UCSB. The prof only reads off of a paper and makes lectures really boring. Slides have barely any info on them so you have to write down a lot of what she says. She talks fast and it's hard to get everything down.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

try to avoid her ES3 classes. for sure one of the worst classes i've taken so far. class averages have been low 70s and she says she won't curve...

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ES1 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

Her lecture slides are very brief and unhelpful. Her explanations focus on history rather than the relationship between the event and how it affected the environment. Honestly, this is just a boring history class. Would not recommend taking this class with Dr. Martin but have heard great things about this class with a different professor.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

Es3 has hands down been one of the worst classes I have taken at UCSB. Professor Martin seems like a very nice lady however she does not teach this course well. Her lectures are hard to stay focused for more than 30 mins. She says the information way to quick and her slides are not informational at all. Good course objectives, wrong professor.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

While she gives a good overview of the material at hand, showing multiple opinions/views of the topics, it takes away the scientific aspect of the ES course. I enjoyed her take on colonialism and globalization but in regards to renewable energy, I've been taught contradicting facts in previous upper div courses here.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

ES 3 has been one of the worst classes I've taken at UCSB, if not the worst. The material is seldom interesting, the books glorify colonization, and her lectures are confusing and too fast. She focuses too much on tiny historical details and not the environment, which is the point of the class... Overall, I regret taking intro ES with her.

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ES3 . Martin J A 5 Years Ago

While she is very approachable, and always willing to engage in conversation, es3 was very poorly structured, lectures grew difficult to follow and difficult to take concise notes on. Expectations on tests not as clear as they could have been. Did an decent job teaching ES1, but there could be better teachers for ES courses.

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