Professor Geller is a very interesting and funny lecturer. His class is fascinating and a fun GE to take. He is passionate about the subject. There is quite a bit of textbook readings and weekly homework assignments, but overall, an enjoyable class.
great lecturer, loves to talk about astronomy. Very friendly guy, but gives a lot of textbook readings and assignments on a weekly basis. All in all, not that challenging of a class. Enjoyable GE.
This class can be a lot of work for non stem majors but is very fascinating. He is super funny and very passionate about all things astronomy so his lectures are always interesting. Exams are multiple choice and very straightforward. He is happy to go down any rabbit hole about physics.
Geller is a good professor. Not gonna change your life but he is super into astro and the class is generally fun and basic. He will not teach you the math, however there is very little math and you are probably fine if you know basic algebra and memorize what each variable means (T for time etc.) Just be ready to read and do constant achieve work
A funny dude but his lectures are very heavy, not to mention the huge study load which included homework and 8 sections of reading a week. His sections are where you are graded (weekly quizzes), which can mess you up because his grading is weird. Just not my cup of tea.
Amazing lectures, is always communicating with students about questions before, after and with emails. Essays in sections are usually straightforward, and multiple-choice exams. Geller also loves answering questions about random topics.
Lectures are packed with info but if you find astronomy, math, geology, etc interesting then it will be a fun but semi-hard class. Lots of reading, minimal math, mostly memorization.
professor seems chill, but too too much homework. As a summer online course, it takes about at least 3 hours per day.
geller is very passionate about astronomy but you have to stay on top of the lectures and assigned reading or the concepts will be hard to understand. homework was online but easy, sections were essay questions (also easy), but some midterm/final questions were tricky and weren't covered in lecture.
He's a chill guy. He loves Astro which makes it fun to hear him talk about things like the multiverse. Hw is through Achieve which is not my favorite but its manageable although kinda annoying. For a GE though, it does take a lot of time for reading and then rereading to study.
Prof Geller was very thorough with his lectures, you should go to lecture if you want to understand the material fully, along with reading all the chapters assigned. If you're interested in this topic, its not hard to pay attention and grasp the concepts, if you're not interested, its probably going to be rlly hard. Lots of hw too, but easy.
I adored Geller's Astro 1 class. You can tell he loves teaching it. The class was thought-provoking and made me appreciate life more. If understanding the universe, stars, planets, and other celestial phenomena sounds boring to you don't take the class. His physics courses artificially lower his rating. Don't let that deter you from taking Astro 1!
Geller is so funny and his lectures are so interesting yet easy to understand. Homework is pretty simple. Lectures and hw correlate directly to exams so they're pretty easy. Since he wrote the textbook, his lectures basically follow the textbook so if you miss one it's not a big deal. Loved Geller and this class!
DONT TAKE HIS ASTRO 1!! RUN!!!
He does a good job explaining concepts and makes us laugh during lectures. The homework can look heavy, but it's all easy stuff that takes an hour max. The weekly essays can be daunting but it's seriously not bad at all and in the long run helps you understand things better for the tests. Overall an enjoyable time even though the midterm was rough.
Be ready to pay 60 USD to access the textbook and hw for a quarter. There are 3 online HW due dates per week and a mandatory in-class essay administered during sections each week. The exams are entirely MCQs so it is very easy to get thrown to B-. Lectures are fine but don't provide sufficient insight. Just take someone else's class...
Great professors, but the exams you need to take are harder than the assignments and harder to get a grade for.
This has been one of my favorite classes due to both material and professor. Geller is great and I loved the lectures. Tests were kind of hard, but weren't weighted very heavily (final = 20%). There is kind of a lot of homework, but it was generally pretty easy and didn't take long. Doing/understanding homework is necessary for good grade.
Only chance to ask questions is in lecture. He is responsive and helpful, but you're expected to rely on TAs for info outside of class. Lots of homework and reading per week. Lots of studying is recommended, you cannot just do the bare minimum in this class. Grading is dominated by your homework and quizzes but includes long midterms and finals.
In terms of difficulty, his class was not free, but I think if you put in the effort, you can get a decent grade. For his lectures, I attended every single one because they were so fun. He is clearly very passionate about what he teaches, and that passion is very contagious. I would suggest you do a quick review before the discussion sections.
The online version of Astro 1 is a blend of easy mathematics (Usually the hardest math being like AP Physics 1 level), really interesting concepts, and such. Expect to read a LOT for the online version of the class but it isn't hard at all. Great for a STEM elective, just okay for a STEM GE.
Geller's astro 1 is the first course I took in this UCSB which is great!. His lectures are interesting and he's a nice person if u join his office hour. However, the reading is mandatory and quite tough for a freshman if u have little astro storage (but not me). There the homework is not friendly for people deficit in writing and carefulness.
The class is not as math heavy as other sciences, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't expect any math at all. If you just suck it up and ask questions, the course is pretty simple. While there is a good bit of homework, it's pretty easy. The midterm and final are graded fairly, and they DO involve both lecture AND book material.
I loved this class! Not everyone did, but he was fair and made it really easy to get a good grade if you put the work in; weekly assignments that reinforce material were a huge portion of your grade, so just read the textbook and do your homework. lectures were boring but he was a cool guy and funny, either way the textbook covers the material.