Catherine is a sweet professor who wants to ensure that her students thoroughly understand the material but man, this was a tough class. The material was very interesting in some parts of the class, a little drier in others. Online class but if you are having a busy summer, do not take the class. It is required that you dedicate a lot of time.
Gautier is a genius, she assigns a lot of homework (but is an easy grader), and she doesn't take b.s. from students. .... If you've been accepted to UCSB, that means you should be a good student, and you shouldn't have any trouble with this class.
Her SBDART program wouldn't open on my Macbook, my Dell computer, or the library computers at the university and it's a shame because we have to use the program for the exams. The workload is manageable; mostly busy work with some note-taking. Lectures seemed kind of redundant in focus and she requires attendance. I'm dropping the class today!
The summit requires A LOT of work both outside and inside the class. BUT I think Gautier is very nice, down to earth and willing to help. Probably one of the most rewarding classes I've been in. Worth taking for the experience, despite lack of sleep.
This was a 3 week mock summit class that was A LOT of work. No structure to class but the grading was very fair. The class requires pretty much your whole day and night so don't take it if u want any free time. Gautier does not know how to cater the class to students and can be very harsh at times. Be prepared...
Prof Gautier is a nice lady who will try to help you if you need it. However, the structure of the class could use a little improvement. For example, I did not see any point in using sbdart. Plus the TAs did not seem to have thorough knowledge of how sbdart worked. The workload was also way more than necessary. Otherwise, she is a good teacher.
If you are smart, and like stuff about global warming, then this is a good class. The work is mildly difficult--more time consuming than anything. If you take Geog 8, expect 2 lectures a week, with 10 minute long online submissions due before each lecture, 1 (2hr long) lab per week, a 1 page paper per 2 weeks, and a mild midterm and final.
Extremely Boring Class. Book was not really needed. Class is hard to follow. Lots of Busy work! Harsh Grading.
She is a good teacher but the class is TERRIBLE! Horrible TA's who grade horrendously. Unstructured, unfair, and not clear of what is expected. The work isn't too hard, but there is just a crazy amount of work to do for a lower division class. And, the grading for it was outrageous. I received an F for a paper that was easily a B. DO NOT TAKE THIS!
Gautier was really passionate and genuinely wanted us to learn. However, her class was unorganized and the grading standards changed from day to day. She also makes you feel like youre intruding on her during office hours. SAM PRENTICE WAS THE WORST TA. He is condescending and shows a bitterness regarding helping anyone & is a VERY UNFAIR GRADER.
I did not have a problem with Professor Gautier as much as I had a problem with the structure with the class. There was an ridiculous amount of work for a lower division class. SBDART is an absolute joke and the TA's seemed to have no idea how to work the program.
This class is F****** ridiculous! DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! It is a joke and it is soooo boring! There were no standards for grading and what was expected was never clear. One assignment would get a 100 and the next would get a 50/100 but it was similar to the previous work done! F**k this class!