Class is simultaneously conceptually simple and somehow still very difficult to get an A in Midterm and final asked questions that tested extremely specific trivial knowledge. Grade curving scheme arbitrarily raised some students' grades but not others. Lectures seemed scattered, trivia-based Never learned less in a class.

She is so irritating. Lecture attendance counts for your grade but all she does is read paragraphs of information off of her slides. Insanely boring. Avoid at all costs.

Boring lecture, confusing grading on tests, tons of reading. The workload isn't terrible or overwhelmingly bad, and the class is definitely doable, but I wouldn't take it unless you had to. Also every other sentence she says, "talking about" IFYKYK

Lecture and section attendance is mandatory, just make sure to take notes on the slides, and you should be fine. Bulk of the grade is two papers and a midterm/final. I honestly enjoyed the class content and found Lien's lectures to be engaging, but they could feel long sometimes.

Contrary to what a lot of students say, I really enjoyed Professor Lien and this class. She's very clear on what is expected on her tests and papers, everything is straight from lecture. The content of this class is also very interesting. Tests and papers are curved. Just make sure you attend lecture and take good notes.

deleted lecture notes before a final? so petty.

Okay! This woman knows what she's talking about and is incredibly knowledgeable. I learned a lot this quarter. Her lectures are organized and straight to the point. The midterm ended up being curved, but even so, if you put in the effort you'll do relatively well. She's also such a sweet lady and clearly passionate.

Pie-te is an amazing professor! Her lectures are interesting and her slides have the perfect amount of information. For the midterm/final she gave us study guides of what exactly would be on the exams and it made the exams a breeze! I've taken 2 of her classes and I actually learned a lot. She's a really nice lady who clearly loves what she does(:

About 50 pages of reading per week. Midterm and final are based heavily on lecture slides, which she does not post online. 2 five-page papers: each due before the midterm and final. Paper grading depends on your TA. Papers helped me actually do the readings, as they are based on them. Get ready to read!

I have quite literally never had a worse professor in my four years of undergrad. While I can certainly say that Lien is an extremely kind person, the truth is that she does not seemingly care about the performance(s) of her students which is a shame. Hardest grader I have ever had. Refuses to post or send slides. Impossible writing prompts.

Lien is organized, structured, and has neat lecture slides. It's not the most deeply enriching class but if you have good memorization skills you will do fine. She is pretty reasonable, has extra credit, and curves the tests if needed. She also gives study guides which is nice. Overall, she is a nice professor her class is just a little dull.

Pei-Te Lien is an amazing professor, and incredibly smart. Some people find it difficult to understand her but I sat close to the front and I rarely had trouble understanding her. 2 tests and 2 papers. The papers cover the readings and the tests mostly cover the lectures, but there is also a good combination. Overall, great class.

you write two essays based on the required readings. you need to do the readings to pass this class. it is fairly doable. i loved this class because i had such a helpful t.a. the midterm and final are based on lecture. essays are based on readings.

Organized lecture slides, but hard to understand some of the connections made in lecture. She lectures quietly and the TA I had was new so he wasn't helpful. Only take if you're super interested and will pay attention in class. Never used textbook. In class midterm and final; ID's and essay prompts. Heavy memorization.

I'm sure Pei-Te is very nice, however, her class...not so much. Lectures are uni-directional, never asks for questions. Slides have paragraphs of info that she skims through quickly (handwritten notes= impossible) Papers have little to no prompt and include 10 readings worth of info in 5 pages. Multiple-choice questions on tests are trivia-like.

Gets more flack than she deserves. She's a highly knowledgable and respected professor, and I think that is lost on so many students just because she is an immigrant. Her class isn't hard--she provides study guides! She does require using all the readings in the 2 short papers, but they're opinion-based so its easy if you put in an ounce of effort.

Literally gave me a 0 on a midterm online because my gauchospace glitched. Was very bitter no one went to class and would upload her lecture slides for only 1-3 hours a day. Exam is just like the lecture slides. Two essays consisted of ALL readings for topics.

She takes attendance daily. Her lectures are not very engaging; she simply reads off the PowerPoint. She can be difficult to understand at times. She only leaves lecture notes up on GauchoSpace for less than 12 hours after class and then deletes them. Gives very thorough study guides; make sure to complete them.

I was really looking forward to ps161 however, I will avoid taking a class with this professor ever again. She reads off her lectures and there is no room for class discussion on important subjects. I do not recommend. She posts her slides for the day she's lectured and removes them at midnight. She is not looking to truly teach her students.

Although Professor Liens classes are straightforward and easy as long as you attend lecture and read, I wouldnt take a class with her ever again because shes rude. Ive never had any other prof at UCSB that was as ununderstanding as her so its a hard pass for me!

I'm not sure about in-person classes, but her online course was just fine! 50-100 pages of reading a week is pretty light compared to most classes & the assignments were all reasonable. With the online class there were no lectures. She posted slides, we had discussions during section, and there were quizzes, essays, and exams (all very reasonable)

While Lien is very knowledgable, she truly doesn't want people to succeed. Her rubric for exams requires you to memorize very specific information in order to get full credit. In lecture, each slide is packed with information that she monotonously reads and then skips too quickly for anybody to transcribe everything. She doesn't provide the slides

This class is bad. There is no organization to the material so each lecture feels random. It is very hard to understand her in class and she speaks really quickly. Slide are not posted and the slides are packed with information. Provides up to 3% of extra credit. Randomly takes attendance and grades a few papers from each TA's section.

Very hard to understand in lecture, and does not show a want to help her students. Speaks very fast and basically reads off of long lecture slides. Tests are confusing and does not reflect the material learned in class. DO NOT recommend taking this class. Tests ask abstract questions that are confusing and made to trick students rather than test.